


1935 Journey to Riddle

by EliLeFey



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Tom Riddle - Fandom
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-04-21 10:36:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4825883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliLeFey/pseuds/EliLeFey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having mastered the ability to go back in time using karmic inversion (by proxy), Eli and Alan go back to 1935 and contact Cordelia Morgan and Albus Dumbledore</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forward to the past

**Author's Note:**

> First draft.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli and Severus go back in time to face off with Albus and retrieve Tom Riddle from the orphanage, dumping him on his father and his family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first draft, this will be added to and altered as I see fit.

 Eli and Alan used the portkey and appeared at the entrance of Diagon Alley. Eli deactived the device and they went to the ticket agent to get a ticket for the local train to Hogsmeade, then went to the Leaky Cauldron where they got a room for the night and had dinner. Eli had changed her eye color to black, not wishing to attract any attention to her origin.

“We were still doing surveillance in the thirties, didn’t come out of the closet until the forties, you know,” Eli had explained. “The only gateway we used in this region was the one on the Isle of Man, of course, because it is still technically under the jurisdictional authority of the Aesir and their heirs, and we have a treaty with them. No one thought to revise the old treaties because they didn’t bother learning the runes and they didn’t read the fine print. Loki invented that, they say. He was the father of lawyers.”

“I can’t wait to see the look on Albus’s face when you introduce yourself.”

“I know, he’s one of the few who will know what I am. Of course Great Grandmother will know, she knows the prophecy. It’s going to be great to meet her when she was still doing amazing feats and daring deeds. She has such incredible clothes and throws the best parties.”

 

They woke very early and walked to the station. “London was so lovely, is so lovely, compared to our time.”

“Yes, well, if our Reincarnate can cancel the Blitz it will stay this way. She is moving fast, Patton and his wife, Bea, get things done quickly.”

They got to the train station early, and got on the train, sitting in the last car, as always.

“The train remains the same, it’s comforting.” The food trolley made its first run and Eli bought chocolate frogs and some pastries.

“Just like old times, in the future.”

 

They walked in the early morning mists up the bridle path to the Farm. “Here goes.” They went to the front door and knocked. Eli had changed her eyes back to purple. Eli bowed to Tabby. “Greetings, Tabby, we would beg an audience from Cordelia Morgan, my name is Eli le Fey and I come from Avalon.” Tabby bowed and ushered them into the house. Cordelia met them in the front hall and took them to the Garden Room. She was wearing a riding habit. Eli went to her and took both hands in hers. Cordelia’s eyes widened in surprise when she felt the contact.

“I cannot believe it, the Tylwyth Teg, at last!”

“Well, actually, Cordelia, I hope I’m not presuming using your first name, we’re here early, like from over 60 years in the future. I might as well be brief. I’m your great granddaughter. Gwydion is my grandfather, his son Takeshi is my father. This is Alan Pendragon. He was Terran but is now of the Fey. He is the heir of Arthur and carries Excalibur.”

“We need your help, you must bring us to Albus Dumbledore as soon as you can arrange.”

Cordelia sat for a moment in silence. “That’s a lot to take in at once.” She grinned. “How incredible. I think I’m about to have a most interesting adventure.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“Might as well get started. We need to find a place to put in a permanent portkey to our timeline in Avalon. I suggest the stable, in the loft near the doors to the hillside. They walked to the loft and Eli cleared a space in the corner.

“I’m just going to put in a marker stone, of granite from the hills of Avalon. You’ll note that the granite here is the blue granite, ours is silver gray.” She withdrew a chiseled slab of polished granite, with runes carved into the suface.

“We’re going back for our horses and some supplies, this won’t take but a moment. Please stand well back, these horses are rather large.”

Eli and Alan put their hands on the stone and disapparated, returning in under a minute with their horses. Cordelia gasped when she saw the horses, wearing their full field kit. “What absolutely perfect cavalry horses.”

“Yes, they are, but they are not very much like horses here …show her your teeth, Yojimbo.  He carries Dyrnwyn for me.”

“Nils is in for a real surprise,” said Cordelia.  "Tell me, how did you get the sword out of the vault?"

"I didn't, this is mine, from my timeline, it's rather a lot to explain at once.  This is our first time in the field, so I'm not entirely sure of what's going to happen." “This is Patton,” she said, patting the silver gray on the neck. “He’s Alan’s horse.  He carries Excalibur.”

 

Nils entered the loft. He spoke something in a language known only to the Nisser when he saw the horses. “they are real!,” he exclaimed. Yojimbo nickered and went up the Nils and nuzzled his face.

“Very real,” said Cordelia. We need to get them a place to stay where they won’t frighten the other horses too much, let’s keep them in the loft for the time being. We’ll just throw down flax for their bedding bring in some water.”

“What do they eat?” asked Nils. “They eat what we eat, basically. Yojimbo likes chocolate frogs and greasy fish and chips, he’ll eat just about anything. Patton is a bit more particular.”

Eli and Alan removed the horse’s gear as Cordelia watched closely. “”No bridles, I guess with those teeth you can’t use bits.”

“They don’t need reins at all. Makes using weapons a lot easier.”

“Speaking of weapons, where did you get that sword?”

“You gave it to me.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

"when we go back to our timeline we bring our swords back with us.  I'll get you some books on the topic that the Ovates have published."

Alan added, “The ‘time paradox’ does not exist, since we have created an alternate universe. In our timeline, nothing has changed. This timeline has already diverged. We’ve already made significant enough changes, or our Muggle ally has, it really doesn’t matter, because the worlds of the wizards and the Muggles are connected, and there are echoes in Faerie, things will be very different than they were in our timeline.”

 

Cordelia returned. “Albus will be here soon. I can’t wait to see his reaction to you two. What do you need?”

“Coffee. we have a lot of material to cover.”

“Should I send for Gwydion?”

“Isn’t Takeshi too young to travel? We could use his help, and of course Katsumi is always nice to have around if there’s a fight, but first you need to see what we’re up against here. I do have a plan, but I’m not sure it will work so we need a back up plan in case I can’t pull it off.”

“So you want to take out the basilisk first, Eli?” said Alan.  "I think we need to liberate young Tommy," he said with a feral grin.  "I'd like to make sure his consciousness gets raised with extreme prejudice."  

“Yeah, we need to destroy it before we go after the whelp, since it became his tool.”

Cordelia looked puzzled. “Basilisk? Here?”

“At Hogwart’s.”

“WHAT?” Just then Albus entered the library. He immediately noticed Eli and stared at her. “What the … a FAERIE? What’s going on, Cordelia?”

“I’m not at all sure myself, Albus.” Eli smiled, went to Albus and took both of his hands. He flinched slightly as he felt the energy from her hands enter him. She put her hands on his head and kissed him on the forehead. Their eyes locked, Eli’s smile got wider as Albus reacted to the information he was processing.

Alan looked on with amusement. He took a bottle of mead out of his saddlebag and conjured some glasses. He poured out the mead and handed one to each of them. Eli dropped Albus’s hands.

“This is Alan Pendragon. He was born here but he’s one of us now.”

“We thought … we thought time travel was not possible, at least not to this extent; what about paradoxes …”

"Oh, that’s not a problem, we’re not changing anything. We are creating what we call an ‘alternate universe’ not changing the past.”

Albus looked puzzled. “You don’t expect me to understand what you’re talking about, do you?”

“Naw … here’s a couple of books you can read if you really want to try and understand. Both of you will have to come with us to Avalon before we get started, things will be much clearer then. Right now, I’m going to show you a series of memories and archival videos about why we’re here, about a boy named Tom Riddle and what he did in the future.”

“Don’t you mean will do in the future?” “No, it’s already happened to Alan and me; we are here to warn you and to take steps to prevent what happened. Our past does not have to be your future, if you understand the concept.” She grinned. “Not that I do.”

She put some of the water from the Klein bottle into the bowl. Albus noted that when she set it back down, it refilled itself. She picked up the last vial. She held it up. “Each of these crystals contain about a three hour segment. I gave you extras because you’ll probably want to see this more than once. It works like a penseive, just drop in one crystal, and the images will form. I’m starting at the end of Tom Riddle, so you can see what he did and how he died. These images are three dimensional, and you will be in them, but you can’t interact. Now if you will excuse Alan and I, we would prefer not to watch what we went through, we will go tend to the horses. I will send Tabby up with some food. Fasten your seatbelts.”

 

She dropped one of the crystals in the water, and she and Alan left the room. They went to the kitchen, were the elves were seated, who went silent when they entered.

“So it’s true, the prophecy has come to be. Just tell us how you got Dyrnwyn out of the vault without anyone seeing you take it.”

“Your sword is still in the vault, just leave it there, you'll know what to do when the time comes.  We're just stopping by, shifting some paradigms and altering probabilities to obtain a better outcome . . ."

“I’ve missed this place,” said Alan.

“Oh, when were you here, I don’t remember you.”

“That’s because my first visit was 38 years from now,” he replied. Tabby looked at him for a moment, then turned back to the stove without saying anything. When the food was ready Alan and Eli went to the loft to feed the horses. Nils was there, and had already set up living space for them as well as racks for their equipment and had cleaned the tack. He spent the next two hours interrogating them about the care of the horses. Alan and Eli took their leave of Nils and returned to the house. When they got back to the library, the video had just ended and Cordelia and Albus were sitting motionless and silent.

Alan smiled and refilled their glasses. “Drink up.” Albus drained his glass.

“I think I had better clear my calendar for a day or so,” he said.

Cordelia shook her head. “I don’t even know what questions to ask.”

“you’re probably wondering why we are doing this. The Fey have been monitoring things here on Terra, and we have come to the conclusion that there was no hope for the future on Terra. The only thing we can do is create alternate universes, where the souls can be reborn in a world with a future. By the early 21st Century, things will begin to fall apart, and life here will be ‘circling the drain.’"

.Eli picked up the vial labeled number one. “This is how he got started. Let’s go back ten years. There was a girl named Merope Gaunt, she was the last of the line of Salazar Slytherin. Somehow, she got ignored by your locators, and never attended Hogwarts. She was abused, neglected, and her life was nothing but pain and misery. Take a look at her home ….”

Eli put a crystal from the first vial in the bowl. The scene was the Gaunt hovel, and Albus heard his own voice narrating. Eli helped the elves bring trays of food and drink to the library, as the group watched in silence. After the segment ended, Eli said, “You should eat something, we have a lot more to get through tonight. As you can see, the Ministry isn’t doing a very good job looking after wizardry, and it has resulted in a lot of tragedy. The Druid researchers on this project were shocked at the conditions and lack of care, and were not surprised at how gestating in such misery could create such a monster, especially when abandoned to a place so unfit to raise him. The next segment begins when you take him to Hogwarts, Albus." ///////////////

 

Only Eli and Alan got up early the next morning. They ate breakfast with the horses and got ready to go to Avalon. Cordelia and Albus, along with all of the house and stable elves, joined them at the hillgate. “This is the first time it’s been used for over a thousand years,” said Cordelia.

“We’ll take you through to see Avalon for yourself as soon as we can get permission. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, so don’t keep any meals waiting. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

Eli and Alan went to the doors and opened them, and Eli raised the mists. “Be seeing you,” she said as they entered the mists. ///////////

 

They returned to the Farm in the late afternoon, with Seraphina the hand trembler and Bryan the healer, both on horseback. Two additional horses came with the group. Nils and his two apprentices were waiting to care for them. Eli and Alan led the Faeries to the library, all carrying loaded saddlebags. Cordelia and Albus were waiting for them, with the house elves. “Welcome to Hillgate Farm,” she said, as she bowed to the group.

The Faeries returned the bow, and turned to Albus. “Albus Dumbledore, in the case of Tom Riddle, you failed to intercede and helped create a monster, therefore, it is your responsibility to help us stop him before he can murder anyone. It was decided that we will allow Seraphina and Eli to use mind control over both Muggles and Wizards, as needed. Our magic cannot be detected by your Ministry, we officially don’t exist. After discussion with the Triad, we have decided the best course of action is to command the Riddles to take custody of the child immediately, so our first task is to track them down and force them into compliance. Then we will have the Riddles remove the child and we will act as governess and tutor until it is time for him to attend Hogwarts. After we get the child out of that place, you can destroy that thing in the Chamber underneath the castle, by whatever means necessary.”

"You failed to act, which resulted in a situation where you relied on children to fight your battles later. That's the reason we're here."   

\ Cordelia sat down at the head of the table. “We might as well get started. It’s obvious that the first order of business is to remove the cursed child from that place. I don’t know how his ‘abilities’ were not detected by the Ministry, but he needs to be put somewhere to see if rehabilitation is possible, and if not, what steps should be taken to ensure he can’t harm anyone anymore".

"We have the boy's file here."  Eli tossed a manila envelope on the table.  Inside were three photos, one a morgue shot of Merope, one a picture of Tom Riddle as a baby, and one taken a month before.  A copy of the forms that the orphanage had on the boy was inside, with a copy of the autopsy report, birth certificate, and death certificate.  Cordelia picked it up and looked at it.  So sad, she thought, a child's life summed up on those pages.  She knew what orphanages were like in the Muggle world, and had often wondered why there were no facilities for wizardry.  

Alan looked at the picture.  He remembered how Riddle had changed from a handsome man to a hideous, malformed being, the evil inside made flesh.  He flashed back briefly to recall the look on Riddle's face when he ordered Nagini to kill him.  How annoyed Riddle would be to find out that "killing" him only allowed his rebirth in Avalon?  And that he was here, the king returned, to save his realm.  Alan smiled, thinking about how stunned his old friends and enemies would be to find out what happened.  Those who had died and visited Eli knew, and most thought it an excellent outcome.  James Potter was quite humbled on his Samhain visits.  Lily never left her father's side during those times, forcing Potter to accept, respect and honor Alan, for his actions above and beyond the call of duty.  

 

Cordelia suggested that they take the car to Little Hangleton and confront the Riddles immediately.  She would make sure the group looked at least a grade or two higher in status than the Riddles.  They would then show them the paperwork, demand that the family join them in immediately removing the child from the cold comfort of the orphanage.  "Appeal to the Riddle matriarch, she would love a grandchild, an heir, and with the death of Merope, they can acknowledge him; after all, they were married."  

Alan nodded.  "He is an engaging child, has the surface charm of a sociopath, like his father.  Perhaps, the shock of being transplanted from that hideous place to a mansion will stop his nasty habits early, with less to fight for, he'll soften."  He nodded to the Faeries.  "With their help, he'll adapt quickly and his progress can be monitored." 

Bryan grinned.  "We haven't had any sociopaths for over a thousand years, it will be interesting to see how our old treatments work."  

 

The group spent the rest of the day getting ready for the trip to Little Hangleton.  Cordelia did some research on the family, "Nobody special, the sort that is easy to intimidate, with the right car, the right clothes, and the right attitude."   She gathered the needed clothes and accessories.  

 

 

“Albus, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you.” She led him out of the doors to the garden, and sat down on the bench near the fountain. “After we get the cursed boy settled, then you need to settle your differences with Gellert Grindelwald.” Albus scowled and jerked back.

“You saw what happened to him, how he was killed. It’s because of you, you know.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Because you messed up so badly with Gellert, Ariana ended up dead. Now, don’t get me started on why it was wrong to imprison your father for getting justice on those Muggle rapists. Your sister was not their first victim, and had your father not killed them, they would have attacked, and eventually murdered, many women. I’ve got a special presentation for you, your own memories of the fight that killed her. We will go watch it now.”

Albus thought about objecting to her words, then realized she knew what she was talking about. “This will be very painful for you to watch, but you must. You’ve abandoned too many people in your life, Albus, I’m giving you a do-over. Save Gellert from himself, even if you think you don’t love him anymore, you will redeem both of you.”

“I agree with him that eliminating the Statute of Secrecy is a good thing, but not that wizards should be put in control."

"I don't need to see anything, I know who killed her."  

"Well, then, own it.  I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."  Eli went to the room she and Alan were using, Takeshi's room under the eaves.

 

 

 


	2. Some Changes Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom Riddle is brought to his father's home, plans made to bring Gellert to the Farm and kill the basilisk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Under construction, as is all my work. It's my never ending story, so I shall do as I like.  
> I am trying to understand Tom Marvolo Riddle's problems, and it seems to me his main problem is a pathological fear of death. Don't fear the reaper.

The next morning the group dressed in the clothes Cordelia had selected.  Eli adored the Muggle styles of the era, and the women in the group looked absolutely perfect, like the Hollywood goddesses of the time.  The men wore dark gray double breasted suits and Borsolino hats, accented with long silk scarves.  They got in the custom built Rolls limousine and headed to Little Hangleton.   With a wave of her hand, Serafina opened the gates, to the surprise of the gardener working on the front lawn.  They drove up the lane to the front door.  Eli led the group to the door, where she knocked three times, and stood back.  

The butler froze when he opened the door and looked at the group. It took him almost a minute to react, and he knew, with his lifetime of being in the service to the bourgeoisie,  that this group was far above the Riddles in status, wealth, and power.  He finally squeaked out, "Whom shall I announce?"  

"I'm Eli le Fey. Tell your master and mistress we are here about their grandson."

"Allow me to bring you to the library, I shall summon the masters and mistress."  He bowed and scurried off.   

"Always act like you outrank Terrans, they respond well to nonverbal clues."  Eli opened the dispatch case she was carrying and placed the pictures and documents in a neat row atop the library table.  

 

Mary Riddle was the first to reach the library.  She was elegant, well groomed, and clearly in awe of whoever these people were. They looked like they had stepped off the set of a Hollywood movie.  Eli smiled at her.  "Please sit down, Ma'am."

She handed the clearly nonplussed woman a picture of Tom.  "That's your grandson.  Your son abandoned his wife when he knew she was pregnant."

"He looks just like Tom .. ." she gasped.  "That poor boy, all those years alone, abandoned .. .what happened to his mother?"

 

Eli smiled and tossed her the morgue shot of Merope.  "Died in childbirth.  Body unclaimed.  Buried in a potters's field."  

Both of the Riddle men, father and son, reached the library at the same time.  "And just who the hell are you, barging in to my home, I shall have you placed under arrest," the older man blustered.

"Sit down and shut the fuck up," Eli snarled, and smashed into his mind, causing him to stop talking.  She used her power to force both of them to be seated, and both complied like marionettes bobbing on a wire.   The younger man looked up in fear.

"What are you, another witch?"  

"Not at all like her, I would have killed you before I fucked you.  She didn't know what she was doing.  I do."  She looked him up and down, and sneered,  "You're already losing your looks, you'll be a bloated bullfrog like your daddy if you don't lay off the booze.  Can't see what she saw in you." 

"Father, call the constable ... have these persons arrested!"

"For what?  Witchcraft?  Are those laws still on the books?  So what are you going to tell them?  That a pack of wizards and Faeries are holding you hostage?  Oh, sure, Tommyboy, tell 'em that, they'll be wanting to know if you've been drinking more love potions . . . "

Thomas laughed.  "You have us there.  What would the charges be, and what would the Magistrate think?"  

 

The butler was the only one who seemed to understand what was happening.  He brought in a tea service and set it up on a side table near Cordelia.  She took over and poured tea for all.  He returned shortly with a tray with sandwiches and pastries.  He was Welsh.  He knew what Eli and the other two Faeries were.  It wasn't his place to say anything, of course.  

"We need to get that boy out today.  Riddle, get dressed, you're going to meet your son.  Better come up with some excuse for not seeing him for so long.  I think he's got some Issues with you.  You abandoned his mother and you knew she was pregnant.  You knew."  

"Wait a minute," he responded. "I didn't .."

She made a slapping gesture towards him.  He flinched when the unseen blow hit.  "Don't ever try to lie to me."  Eli growled softly.  "You knew."

She turned to the butler.  "What's your name?"  

"Griffen, ma'am.  Rhys Griffen;"  

"Rhys, go help get this tosser properly dressed and back down here fast as you can."  

The butler nodded.  The younger Riddle was smart enough not to challenge her and the two left the library.  

 

Eli turned to Mary and the elder Tom Riddle.  "You did a lousy job raising that one.  So we're going to give you some help raising his son.  His LEGITIMATE son.  Want to know why?  Because if you don't he'll kill all of you.  It's 'written in the stars' and even though you have it coming, I'm giving you a chance to change your future.  This is Bryan and Serafina.  They are now Tom's tutor and nurse.   Albus, give them the speech."

Albus went into his usual spiel he used when he contacted Muggle families with a magical child.  When he concluded his speech, the younger Riddle came back with Rys.  

The two Faeries went to Rys and discussed setting up a room for young Tom.  "We're here to help him, get him up to speed with his new life.  We don't want him turning out as badly as his father, for good reason."

Eli laughed.  "Yeah, Riddle, maybe if you listen to them and do the right thing by your son he won't murder you.  Let's go."  

Eli, Cordelia, Alan and Albus escorted the Riddles to the limo and set off for London.  Mary Riddle was full of questions.  "Why did you wait so long to tell us?"  

"This was the first opportunity we had, it's a long story, and you're not ready to comprehend all the factors."  

"What are you?" 

Eli smiled.  "I'm one of the Fey, so are Seraphina and Bryan."  She changed her eye color back to its normal purple.  "This is what our eyes look like when we're not disguised.  Albus, Alan and Cordelia are what we call Terrans, like you."  

 

The elder Riddle was clearly out of his depth and was struggling to comprehend what had happened since this group of strangers had invaded his estate.  He knew his life had changed in ways he didn't understand and nothing would be the same.  Part of his brain rebelled at the information he had been given.  Faeries?  Magic?  He wanted to reject all of it, but he couldn't.  He had always been aware that there was something very different, frightening in its magnitude, about the Gaunts.  As a child he had been half intrigued, half terrified, of the family.  He'd learned to control this terror by scapegoating and ridiculing the family, knowing he could not eliminate them.  He was shrewd enough to understand that these, Faeries, whatever they were, and the 'Terrans'  they were with were far more powerful than the Gaunts, and he needed to get them on his side.  He agreed with the woman's assessment of his son, who had been a huge disappointment to him and his own father.  Maybe this boy would be a chance to bypass the entailment and cut that wastral out of the estate.

 

Mary Riddle knew in her heart what her husband and son were.  Her husband was a pale copy of his own father, who had been a bit too ruthless in his business practices, and ran afoul of the Gaunts once too often.  She knew what the Gaunts were.  Griffen had told her, she was a secret Old Believer, trained by her grandmother, a hedge witch,  in the old ways of healing and had her grimmoire.  She went to church, of course, but had her own altar set up in her boudoir, and a stone circle in her garden.  She was thrilled to the very core of her being, but was keeping her elation concealed.  She was fascinated by the black eyed, black haired man named Alan.  He wasn't saying much.  Mary noticed that the woman named Eli and he seemed to be a couple, always next to each other.  She was good at picking up such things.  

 

The younger Riddle was still hung over from the night before.  He felt like a sheep being led to the abattoir.  These people terrified him.  He knew he fucked up badly, he knew he'd done the wrong thing, and it finally caught up with him.  He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach he'd not felt since he ran in terror from his wife.  He had had a dream, when Merope announced her pregnancy, of a "small assassin"[rf:R Bradbury] floating in her belly, waiting to kill him, he knew how Chronos must have felt.  He abandoned her the next day, after she confessed to using a potion to capture his love.  He'd said some horrible things to her, trying to destroy her fragile psyche, and it must have worked even better than he'd hoped.  So she was dead, was she?  Served her right.  Still, that dream, the one he'd had over and over, the small assassin, tracking him patiently, with all the time in the world.  He knew his parents could not, would not cover for him.  

 

They pulled up in front of the orphanage, in a part of London none of the Riddles had ever seen before.  Eli turned to the Riddles and said, as she brought out Mr. Riddle's check book, "You're going to make a very generous offer to the orphanage, to make up for your dereliction of duty in not finding your son in a timely fashion."  She led the group inside the building and straight for Mrs Cole's office.

Eli led the group in and spoke for them.  "We're here to collect Tom Marvolo Riddle.  This is his father and paternal grandparents."  She nudged the older man's mind.  

He took out his checkbook and wrote out a check for ten thousand pounds.  Mary Riddle took the woman's hand in hers.  "We are so sorry about the delay, we didn't know of the boy's existence."  

Mrs. Cole knew that the younger man had known, there was guilt, shame, fear flickering on his face.  She took the check and put it in the top drawer of her desk.  She would be glad to get rid of that child, he never had been "right".  Even as a newborn, he had resisted any attempts at contact, making his body rigid and turning away from anyone who tried to hold or cuddle him.  No one was willing to adopt the handsome child, and the other children seemed to fear him.  

And his eyes, they were just too old for a child, he had ancient eyes.  Albus, Eli, and Severus went to gather up the boy and his few things,  as Mrs. Cole prepared the documents necessary to turn over custody.  

 

The boy was surprised to see the group at the door; he'd hoped for some sort of rescue, they all did.  He had always known he was not just another orphan; he knew he was different.  The woman in the group stared into his eyes.  He felt his mind being invaded.   _[I know who you are, I know what you are, what you have done, and what you can do.  Don't ever try to lie to me and I will let you keep your mind intact.  If you ever anger me, you'll regret it more than you can know]_ She went to his pain center in the lower brain and gave it a savage poke.  He fell to the floor and writhed in agony, but it lasted for only a moment.  

"Learn how to behave, whelp.  I don't like you.  I don't like your father.  Not my fault your mother had such horrible taste in men.  Your father is here with his parents to take you home.  It's your home, you're the only heir."  

Albus introduced himself.  "I would advise you never to annoy Eli.  I'll be one of your teachers when you get to school.  Right now, you'll have a tutor and a governess to teach you about your ability, the legacy your mother left you."  

"But first, let's clean up your mess," said Alan.  He took his wand and waved it at the locker.  The doors sprang open, and the box containing his stolen treasures floated over to his bed and opened.  "I'll just return these to their rightful owners," he said with a genial smile.  The items vanished.  

Tom glanced at the purple eyed woman and said nothing.  She was glowering at him.  He knew she would not hesitate to harm him, even kill him if he gave her any reason.  The black eyed man looked at him with an expression of barely controlled contempt and disgust.  Only the man with the iron gray hair and beard didn't look at him like he was some kind of vermin.  For the first time in his life Tom Marvolo Riddle felt fear. 

Eli stared into his eyes, and spoke to him in the snake language, as he called it.   _You will never take what is not yours again.  you will never harm another sentient being again.  Or I will kill you where you stand._ Tom knew she was only being honest.  

 

The Riddles were waiting in the limo when they emerged with Tom.  He turned and looked at the faces of the children he'd terrorized, smiled, and waved goodbye.

 

Eli directed them to a potter's field in Southwark.  They went over the rough ground to a spot where Eli pointed to the ground.  "This is where your mother lies," she said to Tom.

 "How do you know?"  he asked.  

She smiled her most lethal smile.  "Because I'm a necromancer, whelp."  

Tom was surprised to see his father look down at the ground with an expression of sorrow.  "She didn't deserve this," he said quietly.

"No shit, Riddle.  This is your doing.  At least have the decency to feel bad about what you did to her, and own it  Now, what are you going to do in acts of atonement?."    Eli spoke what he knew to be a prayer in a language he'd never heard before, but he recognized the power in the words she spoke.  

Mary Riddle cried softly.  She'd always pitied to poor girl, but was horrified when her only child eloped with her.  She looked at the boy, thinking that perhaps this was her chance at redemption.  What a horrible place he'd ended up at.  Why hadn't Merope at least tried to contact the Riddles?  All those years lost.  

 

On the ride home Mary sat next to Tom and told him about his new life, about his family, and his new home.  When they arrived, Tom was immediately taken to his room, where he was met by Bryan and Seraphina.  He shivered despite his efforts not to show his increasing fear.  Seraphina patted his shoulder.  "I taught Eli everything she knows, I know we'll get along just fine," she said, while jabbing his mind.  

Bryan shooed everyone out.  "The young man needs his sleep," he said.  He closed the door and looked at the boy, who was now making no attempt to cover his feelings.  He was like a dog who knew if he tried to bite he'd be ripped apart.  He visibly cowered.  There was a small part of his mind that was pleased with this, since he now had people around him who understood his abilities and could help him improve them.  He'd have to play along with them.  Then he realized he really wanted to be dominated and controlled by superior beings, in order to become stronger.  Surrender was his only option.  Why not join those you cannot beat?    

The Riddles had dinner with Eli and the others, and they discussed Tom's future.  After dinner they departed for the Farm.

 On the way Eli told Albus that they would depart the next morning for Nuremgard to fetch Gellert and keep him at the Farm, willing or not.  Alan and Eli would lead a charge, with Albus and the extra horse behind.  "He won't be able to resist a Faerie horse," Albus said.

"Good. Let's bust in and invite him to take a ride, then don't let him go back."

 

Cordelia cleared her throat.  "I suppose I'd better mention something,  Gellert felt that he should have been chosen as Gwydion's father.  It created a rift between Albus and Gellert and I do hope he got over it.  He never accepted it wasn't in the stars for him.  He did get difficult if he didn't get his way."

"That never changed," said Albus.

"Cordelia, I'd like you to work with a friend of mine, she's going to help us get rid of the basilisk.  She will teach you how to call Damballah to help us.  The three of us will bring him to the fight, the King of Snakes does not like those who harm others without cause.  My sister probably wouldn't approve, but we've just got to kill it.  It never should have been put there in the first place."

"Yes, old Salazar did a lot of very stupid, illogical things," said Alan.  "I suppose he didn't know any better, although the result is predictable.  So many of the best wizards don't understand critical thinking and reasoning."


	3. Gathering the team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young Master Riddle settles into his new life. Eli, Alan, and Albus go get Gellert. Madame Elle, a Mambo Asogwe, teaches Cordelia and Severus how to summon Damballah and kill the basilisk as a sacrifice to the deities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First draft

The elder Riddles sat at the dinner table.  No one had much of an appetite and there was no conversations that evening.  Thomas spent most of the evening fuming about how his only child had turned out to be such a disappointment.  Not only had he run off with Merope Gaunt, but he'd abandoned his child.  His own, only legal heir, at that.  Tom had gone from Prize Catch to Unthinkable in the marriage game, and it was unlikely  anyone of merit would ever consent to have him as a son in law.  At least this boy was attractive, seemed smart as a whip.  With Merope dead, her story could be embellished, in time people would think of this as a tragic romance, if the proper spin were put on it.  He'd have to come up with a way to explain Tommy's existence to start the story, and let the town gossips take it from there.  

 

Mary Riddle was lost in her thoughts.  She was going over how things had turned out.  The pitiable Merope Gaunt was a witch, after all, and she passed this legacy to her son.  She was both overjoyed at this and appalled, considering how degraded the Gaunts were, but still, her grandson would be a wizard ... her grandmother the hedge witch would have been tickled pink to know her great grandson was a wizard.  Grandmother had spent her life hiding in the broom closet, never able to go to school at any of the wizarding academies; she was taught by the village wise women, who had been excluded when the elitist fab four of Hogwarts were determining who was 'worthy' of their academy.  The magic of those witches was slowly dying out, but still strong in isolated corners of Britian and Ireland.  The Ministry pretended those covens didn't exist, and the covens didn't care.  The just laughed at the pompous twits, who didn't know the first thing about real magic, who used complicated spells and supercharged wands to make up for their lack of knowledge of how magic was a part of the world, not something to use up for entertainment and acquisition of power, which resulted in the cycle of conflict between those seeking power over others.

They didn't understand that magic was a part of Gaia, they treated it the way Muggles treated the air and water, as resources to be used up, polluted, contaminated, and not replenished.  They didn't bother to learn that the use of their wands and words was a "cheat" that allowed them to use up massive amounts of the mojo, they were like children playing cops and robbers with real guns, not knowing or caring of the collateral damage they created.  

Mary would see to it that her grandson knew.  

 

Tom couldn't eat at all.  The small assassin had caught up with him.  He hoped the handlers assigned to his son could prevent the prophecized murders.  

 

Eli took a trip to the three way crossings, gave her sacrifice to Hecate, who soon appeared.  She knew that Eli wished to communicate with Merope, and brought the woman along.  Death became her.  Her soul was more beautiful than the meat puppet she had lately inhabited.  Her earthly suffering brought out an ascetic aura, with its own glamour.  

"I'm here about your son.  The one you abandoned and then willed yourself to die, leaving him in the worst place possible for a child of his nature.  You didn't even try to contact his father's family.  I did.  They want him, even if your chosen mate doesn't.  You did your son a horrible wrong.  You infected him while he was being formed by your misery, he soaked in your pain, and it warped him.  I don't hold you entirely responsible; your own childhood was if anything worse than what he suffered.  But you turned your pain inward, to suicide, he projects outward, and if not stopped, will become one of the most reviled mass murderers in the history of wizardry."

 

Merope looked even sadder.  "What can I do now, from here?  I can't even face going through the veil to visit on Samhain."  

"Right now you will give me your memories of how you came to marry Riddle, and how he left you.  As well as how you coped with being abandoned, pregnant and penniless, in a hostile world.  And you will visit him every time the veil thins, not just on Samhain.  You will also visit that worthless git you fooled into marriage, he knows what he did was wrong.  You will provide me with memories of growing up, to show your son his own life wasn't all that bad in comparison.  He will have to learn why you did as you did so he can forgive you, and you forgive yourself." 

Merope began to cry.  "If I could do that I would have by now."

"You are what the Muggles call depressed.  You are not thinking clearly at all, your misery has clouded your mind.  You cannot get out of the trap you made for yourself if you do nothing.  You must act.  Or I will return and make you, and trust me, you don't want that.  Do as I say," Eli said in the voice that could control the minds of others.  She took out her cherry wood wand and touched it to Merope's third eye, causing a translucent white vapor to emerge, which Eli directed into a jar.   

"Tom is now the Riddle heir, his grandfather intends on cutting your husband out of the will.  He's safe, he'll be rich, and YOU'RE WELCOME."  

Merope hung her head.  "Thank you," she said in a quiet voice.  "How old is he now in your time?  There is no time here."

"He's nine.  I hope we got to him in time to save him.  You have to stop crying, Merope.  You never got a decent chance, you didn't know what you were doing.  Now you have to try and redeem yourself, and it won't be easy, but then again, what else do you have to do?  He murdered what remained of your family and all of the Riddles.  That was before he as 16.  Maybe you think they deserve that fate, I won't disagree with you.  But he killed people who harmed no one, he tortured so many, all for nothing, in the end.  I must be off; I've given you some things to think about.  Be seeing you."

 

Eli walked up the pathway, returned to Avalon, and reported to the Crone and the High Priestess.   They commiserated with her about the difficulties of dealing with a disturbed dead person, they tended to be more resistant to therapy and lack insight even more than the living.  Necromancy was tough enough without having to cope with mental health issues.  Eli was of the opinion that they should place Tom in the memories as if he were living her life.  This first person experience tended to be a lot more intense, to the point of causing post traumatic stress in many who have experienced this sort of memory transfer.

Reviewing Merope's memories of a lifetime of brutalization, humiliation and degradation had a strong effect on all of the members of the group gathered at the Farm.  Severus was struck by Merope's infatuation with her neighbor, how it was similar to his infatuation with Lily.  He understood how easy it was to fall in love with someone who seemed to have everything you needed, and the fallacy of believing that if you could only capture that one person your life would be perfect.  It was better never to find out how wrong you were by catching that one person, as she had.  He felt pity for the girl, growing up with no access to education, no happiness, her life made his childhood look almost idyllic.  He had a mother who loved him, and his father's beatings and verbal abuse were no where near as severe or frequent with what Merope had endured.  And at least Tobias didn't abandon his mother when she got pregnant, even though he'd never wanted any children.  

 

Cordelia was moved to tears by the sadness of the story.  The poor girl, with no friends, no education, treated as a household slave, the only thing they didn't do to her was rape her.  She was aware that such things did happen, but this was just more proof of how wizardry so often failed to care for its own.  In many ways they were behind Muggles, who were instituting more programs to help children.  Certainly that dreadful orphanage was far superior to the Gaunt family.  It was clear that pregnancy, always stressful, caused Merope to lose all pretense of sanity, her actions demonstrating her inability to deal with her situation.  She was too paranoid to seek help from anyone until she was in extremis, willing herself to die, suicide by gestation.  She wondered how Merope, how her entire family, was not tracked by the Ministry.  For that matter, how had the magic Tommy had done at the orphanage gone undetected?  She recalled how the Ministry Minions used to try and impress upon students that any unauthorized use of magic would be caught, and could cause one to be expelled, even have your wand taken away, so how was it they missed so much? How could they have missed his murder spree when he was underage; even a Muggle would wonder why he was so close to so many murder victims.  

 

Tom Riddle had turned into the worst wizard in history, under the tutelage of the professors at Hogwarts, endorsed by the Ministry.  What was it that Muggle Messiah had said, "by their fruits ye shall know them."

Eli knew that Tom had absorbed so much suffering and misery in utero that his brain malfunctioned.  His mother had rejected him as much as his father had.  She had thought Tom Senior was different from those who had brutalized her, her own family, but he had abandoned her, after raging at her when he discovered the potion.  She subconsciously transfered her hate towards the fetus, and the hate spread through her soul and psyche, driving her to self destruction, her final act of revenge to hide the child at a Muggle orphanage, in hopes he would never discover magic or his family.  The cognitive dissonance must have been crippling; Merope had enough love for her child to give him life, and to do what she could to protect him from those who had so grievously harmed her, but she hated him enough to leave him alone.  

 

 


	4. Let's Get Gellert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli and the crew recruit Gellert for a quest: Kill the Basilisk

Albus woke up with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He did not want to face Gellert, but he knew there was no way to avoid it.  Eli, his own great grand daughter, intimidated him.  She knew so much of him and she could read his feelings and hear his thoughts.  He'd only half believed that Faeries existed and now had to accept their reality.  The Faerie was right about him,  that he ran away from problems and let others deal with them, and that turned him into something he didn't want to be.  Just like that Muggle story, A Christmas Carol, the Faerie showed him his future and now was helping him change his ways while there was still time.  He supposed he should be grateful, but right now he was a bit dazed by all of the revelations, all of the incredible realities he must deal with.  

He dressed carefully in riding gear and went to breakfast.  Eli and Alan were at the table in the kitchen where everyone usually ate unless there were a lot of guests.  "So, how do you plan to lure Gellert out of his lair?" he said.  

"I thought I'd offer him a quest, to kill the Basilisk; how can he refuse?  And just wait until he gets a look at our swords.  He won't be able to resist going for a ride on a Faerie horse.  Once we get him away from the castle, just apparate to the Farm.  You know I think he'd make a marvelous Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, don't you think, Albus?  Or don't you?  We can't let him stay there because of the influence he has on the Muggles in the region.  We have to stop this next war the Muggles start, you know, if we want to buy you Terrans some extra time."

"What weapons are you using to fight the Basilisk?  Your swords?"  Albus asked.

"Yes, and you should bring the Gryffindor sword when we go.  Mirror shields, basic armor ... bring Fawkes, of course.  I like how that bird went right for the eyes, he's got guts.  And we're going to get help from Damballah, the Snake King.   That's how we will wake the beast up and draw it out, without the heir being present.   I am not taking that cursed child to its pit.  I'm bringing my bow with special arrows, but you will need the most powerfully enchanted sword you can get in case it grabs you before we can kill it or disable it; it's wicked fast.  Use the sword to stab it through the top of the mouth and into the brain if it attempts to bite you.  The venom is caustic so that's why the armor is needed."  

 

Albus was instructed in how to relate to the Faerie horse using the mindgem.  Cordelia was thrilled to have the chance to ride a Faerie horse and was greeted by a buckskin with a shimmering golden coat, named Xanthos.  Albus was cornered by a leopard spotted mare, who emptied his pockets of the food he'd brought for the horse he would ride.  They saddled up the horses, including a black mare with a white mark on her forehead that looked like a lightning bolt for Gellert.  They  mounted up and went to the riding arena where a portkey had been set up.  The group gathered together, joined hands, the horses moved close enough to touch each other's bodies,  and transported to the gate at Nuremburg.  Eli looked at the massive structure with distaste, its complete lack of aesthetic merit offended her sensibilities.  

They rode to the gate, where Eli used her athame to break the locking spell, and the gates sprung open for them.  She led them in at a collected canter, rode to the center of the courtyard and looked straight at the window at the top of the tower where Gellert was looking with alarm at the invaders in his castle.   Eli grinned at the wizard, who was trying to think of what to say with the group.  

"I'm Eli le Fey, Gellert, come on down, I'm here with your old friends and we have a quest for you."

Gellert leaped out his window and floated down to land in front of Yojimbo.  He bowed to Cordelia, then turned to Eli with a smile.  "A Faerie?  Who let you back in the realm?"  

Eli laughed.  "Like you could keep us out."

"What quest do you have for me, my lady?"

"We are going to kill a basilisk.  Bring your best weapons."  

 

Gellert sent one of his guards to fetch his sword and spear.  This was insane, he thought to himself.  What was he doing?  What was going on?  He had enough survival skills to just go with the events as they unfolded.  What was Albus doing here with Cordelia?  He hadn't seen either in years.  And with a Faerie, who were said to be extinct, according to their Ministry?  Even though the Fey did work more or less openly with other magical jurisdictions.  He was more familiar with their cousins, the Vanir.  He was getting bored lately, why not see what kind of adventure he could get?  And a Basilisk?  Hmmm.  Better bring some collection vials to get some of its venom, he thought.   He sent another guard to bring a special case he used when on research field trips.  

The black mare walked up to Gellert.  "Her name's Electra," Eli said.  

"No bridle?"  

"Show him your teeth, Electra"  The horse complied.  "They bite.  Be nice."  

 

Gellert wasn't too surprised when they portkeyed back to the Farm.  In the years since their break, he had thought often of Cordelia.  He missed her.  What was she doing with a Faerie?  The Faerie was in charge, that was clear.  

The group dismounted and took the horses to the stable to care for them, then went to the house, to the library.  Coffee was waiting for them.  "Make yourself comfortable, Gellert," Eli said.  He threw himself on a large sofa in front of the fireplace, his favorite place to read a book back in the days when he used to come here often.  

"I've missed this place, I've missed you, Cordelia, but not you, Albus.  I had hoped I'd never see you again."  

"Yeah, too bad about that, I want you to work with me.  You're one of the best wizards around right now.  You don't have to get along with him, just me."  

Gellert smiled.  This was getting interesting.

 

Eli prepared the viewing bowl and selected the crystal that documented Gellert's life and death.  Tabby brought in a tray of food, including the small meat pies Gellert was so fond of.   she always had liked the handsome blond wizard, who treated elves with respect, and so charming!  He smiled at her.  At least he knew he'd be eating better, there was no one at Nuremgrad who could cook as well as the house elves at Hillgate.  He approved of having elves dressed as well as humans, as was the tradition here.  Free elves performed their jobs better, like the best soldiers, because they volunteered.  

 

Alan brought Gellert a glass of wine.  "We haven't been introduced.  I'm Alan Pendragon."  

"Pendragon?  Like Uther, and Arthur?"

"Yes.  But I haven't been born yet.  You see, Eli and I are from the future.  We know what will happen if you don't change a few things."

"Time travel?  No one can do that . .. not yet, anyway, so you're saying you figured out time travel in the future?"

Eli grinned.  "Yeah, that's gotta blow your mind, as they used to say."

"I couldn't help but notice your swords."

"They have names, they are Living Swords, as I'm sure you've heard of," Eli said.  "This is Dyrnwyn."    She drew her sword.  The firelight danced over the metal. 

"Where's the fire?"  

"It only comes on when I am fighting, or when someone tries to use it.  Care to try and draw to find out?"

"No, thank you,"  Gellert laughed.  "And that must be Excalibur, Alan?"

"Obviously."

 

"Let's not waste any time.  Here is your future," Eli said as she activated the device.  

 

Two hours later, Gellert felt defeated for the first time in his life.  Imprisoned alone for decades, and killed by a monster.  

"The thing that killed you dies when the wand he tried to steal from you kills him in the end, I can show you that later,"  Eli said.  She took out her athame.  "I hope you realize I'm trying to save you from yourself, so don't fight me," she said, as she placed the blade on his forehead and spoke a spell in a language he had never heard.  "You can't apparate now, you have to stay here until we get you help so you don't end up like that.  You are to great a wizard to waste."  

"How is it you came to Cordelia?"

"She is my great grandmother.  My father is her grandson." 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Gellert Joins The Friends of the Fey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Kill a Basilisk Eli puts together a team to get the beast and close the Chamber of Secrets forever. FIRST DRAFT

Alan looked at Gellert with undisguised amusement.  "Tom Riddle murdered me, too, or thought he did.  Eli and the Fey saved me, gave me Excalibur, evacuated me to Avalon in time.  He also caused the death of Albus, not to mention murdering his entire family on both sides when he was a teen, so don't feel special.  He's the next part of the mission."

"Then you know where he is," Gellert replied.

"Yes, he's nine years old, we just got him out of the orphanage where his mother, the last known heir of Slytherin abandoned him.  Wait until you see what happened to her."

Eli put on the documentary on Merope, and handed Gellert the file on Tom.  "He's with his father and his parents right now.  His Muggle father has nightmares of being murdered by him, one of the reasons he ran away from her.  So he's there with his father . . . with two Faeries, a hand trembler and a healer.  They are working on reprogramming him right now."   

After it was over, Eli advised him to get some sleep, because tomorrow morning they would begin training for the mission of killing the basilisk.  

 

The next morning Gellert was up at first light.  He went to the kitchen for breakfast, then went to walk around the garden and into the library, where Eli and Alan were setting up maps and diagrams of the Chamber of Secrets.   He sat on the sofa, smiling at them.  He was trying to figure out the nature of their relationship.  She was clearly in command of this group, and she carried herself with command authority.  But she looked to him for approval, her eyes softened when she gazed at him, and they smiled at each other when their eyes met.  He decided it wouldn't be worth the conflict to make a play for her, even though he was curious to find out if the legendary sexual prowess of the Fey was based on fact.  

Alan interested him.  He had eyes that could hypnotize, and his voice had power and magic in it, and Gellert realized he was a better wizard and far more dangerous than any he'd faced before, the sort of wizard who is best kept on your side so you don't have to fight him.  

Gellert wondered if they ever invited a third party to their bed.  He would happily do both of them.  

 

"Eli, where did you serve?  What branch of the military?"

"I was with the White Tigers of the West, for 20 years, made it to full Colonel before I retired.  Now I'm in charge of the Horse Guard at Avalon."  

"Did you kill daemons?"

"Yes, quite a few, they tried to invade Tibet and nearly destroyed everything, they got the Muggles to tear down the entire culture.  We're hoping that can be avoided if the right people are alerted and if enough can be convinced of the danger they face and take preventative measures."  She went to the side table where a coffee service had been set up and got a cup.  "I think you're right about eliminating the separation of magic from Muggles, but you're dead wrong about putting wizards in charge.  Both groups tend to have too many self motivated and deluded power whores and it always ends up badly for your kind.  You sure don't like to learn your lessons ... and it gets so old, history just repeating itself, over and over."

Gellert decided not to challenge her.  He knew when he was up against someone who could take him.

 

Tabby came into the library with a tray of food, mostly sandwiches and pastries.   Gellert greeted the elf and helped himself.  He was eating when Albus came in with Headmaster Tippet.  Albus sat as far away from Gellert as he could.  In a few minutes Cordelia came to the library with a tall woman in white raiment, and introduced her as Madame Elle,  a Mambo Asagwe who was going to help them by invoking the power of Damballah.  After the briefing, all those who were willing to join the mission would be ritually cleansed and prepared.  The headmaster looked somewhat frightened; he'd heard only this morning from Albus that the Chamber of Secrets was real and that there was a basilisk in it, left by Salazar Slytherin in a fit of pique when his pureblood supremacy dogma was rejected by the other three.   Considering the reality of just how degraded and debased the last of his line was, Gellert was forced to accept the fact that it was a fallacy, and in fact completely wrong, if you judged by results.  Gellert was an empiricist at heart.

 

The headmaster had at first refused to believe Albus and Cordelia.  He wasn't sure the legend of the Chamber of Secrets was true, but he realized that he would go on the record as the one in charge when it was discovered.   But to kill a basilisk, how to do that.  If anyone could do it, he supposed the combined efforts of Albus and Gellert  could, and this Madame Elle looked capable of great magic.  

 

At midmorning Eli and Cordelia went to the dock to throw out a line to one of the Azure Dragon junks.  Gwydion and Katsumi Morgan came ashore with their infant son, Takeshi.  They were taken to the nursery where Gwydion had spent his childhood, where a nurse and two elves waited to care for the boy.  Gwydion remembered the elves, Katy and Aesop, with great fondness.  Both of the Morgans carried the two swords as well as bows.

Gellert was struck by how much Gwydion looked like a young, but more handsome, Albus.  Gwydion had a beautifully muscled physique, it was obvious he did a lot more physical activity than his father.   He was quite a dish. 

 

The plan was simple.  After purification, prayers, and gifts to Damaballah, the party would go to the entrance in the bathroom.  Eli and Matsumi both spoke fluent Parseltongue, to open the gateway.  Because they did not have the heir, they would wake up the beast using Elle's ability to summon the King of Snakes, to end the life of this abomination.  To place such a deadly beast to kill schoolchildren, that was proof enough that Salazar Slytherin had lost touch with reality, and was obsessed with revenge against his imagined enemies.  Once the beast was awake, it would charge out of the shrine at almost supersonic speed, and would be met with a volley of arrows, which would slow it down enough to allow the use of charmed swords.  There were only two ways to kill it quickly, with a perfectly aimed sword through the mouth to the brain, or an arrow or sword through the tiny gap between the scales over its heart.  Katsumi brought along a charmed net, used by the Dragons to trap aquatic daemons, that would ensnare it if they did not kill it quickly.   

After the arrows had been released, the group would charge, splitting into groups to confuse the beast.  Fawkes would be flying above, and could be relied on to blind it when the bird could find an opening.  

Eli announced her intention of harvesting the venom, skin and fangs.  "The skin will make excellent armor, the venom can be used in a lot of ways, and the fangs to be made into weapons."

The group was fitted with flexible body armor made of charmed dragon hide made by the Avalon outfitters.  

 

Headmaster Tippet called for a school wide trip to see a Quiddich tournament in Ireland, to clear out the castle on the day they planned to enter the Chamber. Eli had prepared the script they would be using, to "leak" to the Daily Prophet, making Madame Elle, Albus, the headmaster and his new professor of the Dark Arts, Gellert, the heroes.  There was to be no mention of Alan, Eli, or the Fey.  

 

 

 


	6. The Chamber of Secrets Revealed and Sealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chamber is opened, the basilisk slain, and Gellert turns over a new leaf and joins the staff at Hogwarts.

The morning of the opening of the chamber began with a particularly lovely dawn over Hogwarts, watched by Cordelia and Gellert from her bedroom window which overlooked the lake.  Gellert had knocked on her door that evening, and she was waiting for him, with iced fire whiskey and two glasses.  She knew he'd come by, and half hoped, as did Gellert, that Albus would invite himself.  Gellert had tormented Albus, refusing to make the first move, and of course, Albus was too terrified of his sexuality to do anything but eat his heart out.  

Cordelia was amused by how eagerly Albus had agreed to father Gwydion, like he had to prove to himself that he wasn't gay.  She was aware of how Gellert felt and agreed that Albus would have to admit his feelings, and not be "swept away" as he fantasized, because Albus had to own it, not blame Gellert, which he would do if the handsome blond took the lead.  The sexual tension was often palpable, and Cordelia felt that was why Albus had blown up at Gellert.  She knew who started that fight and why, and it wasn't what Albus wanted to believe. 

It was time to end it, to start a new alliance, to make Albus face himself and what he really was, before his self serving excuses for his cowardice took over his personality, and he began to believe his own PR.   _(I refer to this as The Elvis Syndrome, where the Normal Self-Serving Bias causes us to do some pretty stupid things, like Fundamental Attribution Error, at the root of all the 'isms' )_.  

 

The group met in the kitchen, ate a light breakfast, and set off for Hogwarts, where Headmaster Tippet met them.  He was very nervous, and handed Albus the Sword of Gryffindor.  He had a longbow and a pike with a particularly vicious double edge blade that was designed to penetrate flesh and tear it out, useful for disembowelment.  Cordelia and Gellert were not archers and would carry the net.  They would lie in wait over the entrance and toss the net over the basilisk's head, which would slow it down, allowing the archers to get off at least one volley before it could charge them.  The net could not be torn, burned, or cut, but had no stopping power.  She had her grandmother's double bladed battle axe, and her best wand.  She would finally get a chance to try out spells it was unethical to experiment with on live subjects.  

Gellert brought his best sword, the Gram Sword.  He'd won it in a game of cards with some Nibelungen he'd met in a bar in his youth.   Eli was suitably impressed with the sword and the story of how he'd obtained it, since those folk were the best card sharps in both realms.  "They won a lot of stuff from me, over the years," he mused.  "But I never let them try to get it back."  

 

They had spent the day before prepping, with ritual cleansings and chants to Damballah.  They were ready.  

Armando led them to the bathroom, where Elle drew the veve for Damballa and Ayida-Weddo in front of the entrance.  Eli, Katsumi, and Elle spoke a prayer in Parseltongue, and the mechanism activated.  Eli and Alan lay down and astrally projected themselves to take a look at what they were heading into.  After a few minutes, Alan rejoined his body, and Eli's disappeared as she apparated inside the chamber.  Alan took a thick rope that had been attached to a pillar and flew down to join her.  The group rappelled down the rope and joined them, bringing along the duffle bags Eli and Elle brought, to collect blood and venom.  All of them carried small mirrored shields on their arms.

 

Cordelia and Gellert positioned themselves above the entrance, with the net rolled and ready to throw over the basilisk's head.  Fawkes circled overhead.   The archers formed a semicircle around the entrance.  Eli had given all of them special warheads for their arrows, that exploded inside flesh.  "Ordinarily I eat what I kill, but I ain't gonna eat that disgusting beast.  According to Malebron, its flesh is as deadly as its venom.  We'll have to use an incendiary spell when we leave to burn it so the rats all don't get poisoned.  Have to use a slow burn in this enclosed space, don't want to melt the walls or the pipes.  

 

Elle drew the veve again, and began chanting.   

 

It didn't take long.  The Basilisk woke up with a scream.  What was happening?  She sensed danger.  Her father, Salazar Slytherin, had told her his heir would awaken her.  She knew this was not the heir.  She heard a voice, telling her to show herself, to face them, calling her out to battle.  Her father had infected her with his paranoid delusions of persecution, and this caused her to rush out of her lair in a panic, raging and fearful at the same time, the most dangerous state of mind for any being.  She rushed down the tube, screaming in rage, and felt something snare her face, and entangle itself in her head, as the net was thrown over it.  She threw her head about madly, trying to shake it loose, but that only served to make it tighten around her head, slowing her down, making it difficult to open her mouth.  

The archers let loose a volley, and all the arrows hit her.  They did not aim for her head, since arrows would bounce off her skull.  They aimed at her throat and chest, and she spouted blood.  She felt pain as the arrows exploded inside of her.  Albus and Severus aimed their wands carefully, letting loose a variety of stunning spells.  Eli positioned herself to protect Elle, chanting prayers with her, Dyrnwyn at the ready, its flame lighting the dark chamber.  The archers kept up their attacks on the underbelly , each arrow drawing more blood, so the basilisk was gradually bleeding out.  They all knew that a wounded creature was at its most dangerous, and didn't slow down the attack as the beast came into the chamber, the long serpentine body lashing out with enough force to shatter bones and crush bodies.  There was no room for retreat.

Cordelia jumped down on her neck, and began climbing up the net towards her head, using the battleaxe as a handgrip, sinking it in the flesh.  The skin was very hard to cut, and Cordelia had to aim in the space under the scales to get any penetration.  The basilisk shrieked, tossing her head violently, trying to shake loose the rider on her neck.  She didn't have time to look at anyone, and didn't notice the phoenix descending to her eyes until it was too late.  Fawkes used one foot to hang on, and the other to tear at first one eye, and then the other.  The beast started to scream more loudly, and tried to bash Cordelia off against the ceiling, so she slid down her back, and leaped to safety.  Gellert then yelled at the blinded beast, and she turned to him, not seeing that he held his sword out.

"Here I am, come get me!"  Gellert yelled.

The basilisk tried to grab him, using her heat sensors as well as her hearing.  Gellert stood his ground, and at the moment when the basilisk's jaws were about to close over him, he brought up his sword and thrust it through the roof of her mouth and into her brain.  She let out one final scream, that rose higher and higher until only the bats in the cellars could hear it, and with a final spasm, she died, pouring out blood.  Gellert cleaned his blade carefully, then slowly took off the venom covered dragonhide armor.

 

"That went better than expected," Eli said to Elle, as they unpacked their bags to collect the venom and blood.  Eli removed the fangs, handing one to Gellert, and keeping the other for herself.  The other teeth were taken and put in a collection jar.  The venom was drained and most of the blood crystallized, and they took out huge machete like blades to remove the skin, which was rolled up and reduced in size by one of Alan's spells.  As they worked, all of the group except Alan climbed back up the rope, and sat on the floor of the bathroom.  Armando sat, hands still shaking, looking at Gellert.  

"My ears still hurt from those screams," Gellert said, looking carefully at the fang.  

"I think Cordelia is right.  How would you like to teach at Hogwarts, instructing Defense Against the Dark Arts, Gellert?  No one's got any hard evidence you personally committed any serious offenses, and certainly not here," said the headmaster.  "Albus and I will vouch for you at the Ministry.  After all, who better to teach than you?"

Gellert smiled.  This would be a way to clear out for a bit; things were getting out of control with some of his followers and he didn't want them to drag him down.  He could shut down most of Nurmengard, get rid of the crazies, lie low for a while.  He'd always hoped that somehow he'd get back with Cordelia; he'd never found her equal in any of the witches he'd met over the years.  And it would be marvelous fun to torment Albus.  

"I think I'd like that," he said to Armando.

 Albus was half outraged, and half grateful for a second chance with Gellert.  

They could work things out.   

Gellert knew more adventures awaited them, now that the Fey were getting involved.  

 

Elle climbed the rope, and they attached the bag of hide, venom and blood to it, and the group in the bathroom hauled it up.  Alan and Eli set a spell of slow fire, that would dessicate the remains of the creature, and Alan picked her up and flew back up the pipes.  

 

 

 


	7. Gellert Moves In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gellert is the Hero of Hogwart's, Albus eats own heart out, Tom Riddle is forced to live his mother's life

Eli and Alan discussed the next step in the treatment, which would be a first person transfer of the life and death of Merope. “You’ll be watching it tonight after dinner, he will be living it, most of it, anyway.

  
Tom Riddle the younger lost his appetite completely.

 

After dinner, over coffee and brandy, Eli set up the memory video, using the projection system that created holograms and allowed the viewer to be in the actual scenes and move around. They could not interact or effect anything.

  
“Don’t try to leave until this is done,” Eli warned.

 

 

Eli and Alan went to the nursery to see how the cursed boy was doing. He was sleeping, twitching and murmuring as he dreamed.

  
“He’s responding well to dream therapy,” Seraphina said. “His empathy centers had to be completely rerouted and restored, he’s still not up to speed on that. We’re balancing the brain chemicals and that takes time to get right.”

  
Bryan looked up from the report he was writing. “Have you told the family about the memory transfer process? This will take at least a week, probably more, and he’ll take time to recover. Inducing PTSD is effective, but hardly pleasant.”

  
“He deserves some pain, considering what he’s already done.”

  
“We are ensuring that he feels all pain he inflicts from now on.”

“You got permission to do that kind of radical brain restructuring?”

  
“Yes,” and the two said in unison,  
“Exigent circumstances require extraordinary methods.”

  
“I’ve ordered extra potions and Soma to get him through this.”

Before they left to return to the Farm, Eli and Alan had a talk with Rhys, in his kitchen. The cook had left for the day. They explained that the boy would be kept in his nursery with his caregivers for the next week, and to see to it they were provided with food and drink. The butler nodded. Meanwhile, in the library, all of the Riddles were fighting off the urge to vomit. Mary could not stop crying. Poor Merope, so desperate for rescue and so ignorant of her own powers, that she had to steal her prince. Certainly this was no worse than many a marriage.

  
Her own marriage was not for love, her father and Thomas’s father thought the match a good one; neither loved the other, nor saw any reason not to marry, so they did.

When you have property, you have to breed children for the dynasty, after all.

Weren’t most women in the world basically chattel in ‘holy matrimony,’ she thought, resenting the social rules that so constrained and restrained women. Certainly the popularity of love charms and potions, despite their clear and present dangers, demonstrated that her son was hardly the only victim of Aphrodite.

  
She thought of how Artemis had asked her father to grant her immunity to Aphrodite’s power.

  
That was a wise choice.

Eli and Alan went to find Cordelia and Gellert. They were in the library, going over some of the books that might be useful as references in his classes. They found an elf tailor who made some magnificent robes for Gellert, for different seasons, in different colors. He had a necklace made to carry the basilisk’s fang around his neck. He’d had it set in pure gold, with a cap on the end of the fang, and a cover at the top. It was full of venom, of course.

 

“You missed quite a circus,” Cordelia smiled as they approached. “The Minister himself, his favorite minions, the Daily Profiteers had a field day.”

  
“Glad I missed it.”

  
“How’s the little murderer?” Gellert said.

  
“Responding to treatment.” She grinned. “You saw the memories of his mother. He is going to experience her pain.”

  
“You can do that?”

  
“All that and more, Gellert.” Eli smiled more broadly.

 

  
Alan awoke before dawn. He went to the kitchen, where the elves were laughing over the early edition of the Daily Profit. Gellert was front and center in the picture, holding his sword. The headmaster and Albus were on either side of him, and the Morgans stood together behind them, holding their weapons.

  
The students at Hogwarts were buzzing with excitement when they returned with their professors from the Quiddich tournament. The news had been announced before the final game, and they were eager to get back to school. All of the school, and the Ministry, were surprised when Headmaster Tippet announced his immediate retirement, and named Galatea Merrythought as his replacement, and Gellert Grindelwald as the new Professor for the Dark Arts.

The Ministry sent in Aurors to make sure that the Chamber of Secrets was cleared and sealed off.

  
After a week the temperature dropped sufficiently to send in a team. The only remains were the ashes of the bones of the creature, still intact. The Aurors took pictures, then began the task of filling in the chamber and the connecting pipes with expandable concrete, which filled in every bit of space with a tufa like substance.

 

Gellert let the buzz about him develop for a week before he began teaching his first class.

He rode a Friesian stallion to Hogwarts, after establishing himself in the suite next to Cordelia’s. He would have preferred to ride a Faerie horse, but realized that it was not time for the Faeries to come out of the closet. Not until young Tom was in school.

  
He wore a forest green hacking jacket, with tan breeches. His vest was purple, with white silk shirt and stock. The basilisk fang pendant hung on a heavy gold chain, with a gold charm sealing the chain. He brought his sword Gram with him, knowing that the students would want to see it.

 

Gellert's arrival on campus became a spontaneous celebration. Each of the houses presented him with a scarf, and he wore all of them. “I can’t pick a favorite,” he said. He announced he would be forming an equestrian competition team, with horses donated by the Morgans.

Alan and Eli were pleased with how Gellert became an instant hero. He needed the sort of ego boost such admiration on a mass scale brought him, how happy it made him. They had to keep him in Britain until the threat of war was over in Central Europe.

Between having Cordelia back in his life and the connection with Avalon, Gellert was in no hurry to leave. There was just too much to do and learn, and he began to realize that world conquest was a loser’s game. He just wanted to have fun.

  
So did Albus. Eating your heart out was no fun at all.


	8. Armando's Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why Headmaster Tippet resigned so suddenly

The Daily Profit didn’t get the whole story.

They weren’t told why the Headmaster suddenly decided to retire, after his long years of service. He said, for the record, that he’d spent enough time at the school and it was due for some changes in this new century. Who better to lead Hogwarts from the past to the present, but Galatea? She had been one of the leading scholars, had published any number of essays and studies, and was beloved by staff and students.

What he didn’t tell anyone was that he was horrified at the damage he’d done by not being smart enough to spot what Tom Riddle was. How he allowed an innocent boy, Hagrid, to be sent to Azkaban, without even doing a proper autopsy on the victim.

It didn’t help that Albus, Horace and Galatea also got fooled by the boy, as headmaster, as with any leader, any failures reflected directly on him. The day before they opened the Chamber of Secrets, Eli took him to Avalon, where the Council of Crones met with him. They performed what they called a memory transfer on him. In one day, he lived the life, and death, of Tom Riddle. He saw the murders, the torture, he saw how he and his teachers created a monster, then sent in children to rectify their mistake.

He realized that the Ministry had created the problem, by refusing to acknowledge mental illness, by not facing the problems caused by marginalizing so many. He had gotten so complacent, so ignorant of evil, by hiding at a school, trying to live vicariously. It was time to do something else with his life. Time to set his own schedule, sleep in, stay out late, go visiting places he’d never seen.

He’d been thinking along those lines when they went to the Chamber. It was there he faced his daemon. He had stayed in one place for longer than he should have, nothing lasts forever. He’d lived longer than anyone else in his generation, hiding out in his tower, getting further and further away from reality, and the world in which the students would have to survive in.

 

Of course the main reason he wanted to retire was what happened to him in the Chamber. No one who was there would ever reveal his secret, but he knew, they knew. He froze.

He had to be saved twice.

When the basilisk entered, he’d stared at it, almost getting killed by its glance, until Eli physically knocked him aside. After it was blinded, Armando was still unable to respond when he was nearly crushed by the thrashing coils as it was dying. Madame Elle dragged him away from the danger zone.

He was soft, he was useless in a fight, from all his years hiding from life. Time to retire. He wasn’t doing any good here, and the future showed him he did a lot of harm, more by omission than commission, not that there is any real difference.

They needed instructors who had real life experience, and Galatea, a brilliant witch and teacher, was better suited to administrative work at this point in her career. She’d been out of the field for too long.

None of them recognized what Tom Riddle was, all of them aided and abetted him instead of teaching him.

There was a difference between living and not dying. He had been like a fly caught in amber in his endless tenure.

Armando announced he would be spending time gardening, and writing a personal history of magic and Hogwarts. He bought a cottage on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, moved his papers, books, memorabilia and tools in, then planned an extended world tour. Time to see the world he’d been ignoring while hiding behind the Hogwarts walls.

 

Galatea was able to move into her new role easily. To be sure, she was burned out on teaching Defense Against the Dark Art, DADA, as they called it. As much as she loved Armando, he was an old, old man, whose world was long gone, and perhaps it was time to take a closer look at Hogwarts, the curriculum, and just how relevant it was to wizardry in the the 2oth Century. Muggles were making enormous progress, but magic was still taught the same way it was centuries before.

She liked the change in duties, getting more involved with the student’s lives, controlling discipline. She was going to crack down on bullying and try to get more cooperation and less conflict between the houses. None of the other wizarding academies were so divided, and seemed to have less discipline problems.

She was planning on visiting Beaubatons, as well as Durmstrang, and Makoutokoro.

 

At first she had been angry with Armando for keeping her ignorant of the Chamber and the basilisk, until he called her in his office after she had returned with the students. She came in, loaded for bear, looking for a fight, but when she looked at the man, she sat down and shut up.

He looked terrible.

His eyes were the worst. He’d clearly taken a look hard look at the abyss. His hands shook. He was one of the oldest wizards still in public life, but now, he looked beyond ancient.

“I can’t imagine how it must have been to look at a basilisk,” she said.

“It wasn’t the basilisk that was the worst.” He poured out a drink of aqua vitae. “I saw the future, I saw my future, I saw how I helped create the worst wizard ever. I went to Avalon, Galatea.”

“Avalon?”

He drank the entire glass. “Yes. Avalon is real, as real as Hogwarts. The school was created to help wizardry, not destroy it, and what I did—what I will do—time travel is a confusing concept, I am not sure I quite understand.”

He poured out another drink, then put a glass in front of her and gave her the decanter. “Help yourself.” He emptied that drink as quickly as the first. “I was here too long, the world is not what I thought it was. Ask Albus. Ask Gellert. Ask Cordelia. They know.”

 

The elves were finishing up the packing. “I’m leaving today, I will spend tomorrow setting up my new place, then I’m off to see the world.” And with a pinch of floo powder, he stepped into the fireplace and was gone.

Galatea looked around her at the empty headmaster’s office. The house elves began to move in her things, starting with her books.

 

Gellert’s appointment to Hogwarts created a media frenzy across the Continent, where there were many who saw him as a savior, with just as many who saw him as a daemon.

He eliminated any fuss over him at the Ministry by going to them and charming them, while he was being interrogated by the Wizengamot, or individually in social settings.

Parents thought him a suitable role model, especially in comparison with some of the other staff. There had been a call for modernizing the educational system for some time, and many thought that Dippet should have moved on decades ago. It was pointed out that many of the texts and class syllabuses had not changed in over three hundred years. Tradition was all very well and good, but there is room for modernization, it was felt by most of the parents.

 

In respect for Tippet’s long service, his recommendations were all implemented immediately, despite the objections of some who felt Grindenwald was not qualified due to his questionable past. It was pointed out that only one who had truly taken a walk on the wild side could possibly know of what the Dark Arts were in practice.


	9. Chapter 9

  
Alan and Eli wanted to get out of the way when the news broke about the Chamber of Secrets and killing the basilisk, so after delivering the skin, blood and venom to Avalon they took the day to visit Tommy Riddle at his new home. They got dressed up in some of the wonderful outfits Cordelia supplied and apparated to the Riddle home. The gardener didn’t even look up when they appeared suddenly on the property. Rhys had told him what was going on and he just ignored everything.

They were greeted warmly by Mary Riddle. She brought them to her boudoir and served them tea, and she showed them her altar and her grandmother’s grimmoire. Eli was pleased. “You see, Alan, some of the Old Magic of the Old Believers kept going, the Ministry couldn’t get rid of them. They hid among the Muggles where none of those pompous twits thought to look.”

  
“I can’t believe it, a school just for magic?”

“They teach a sort of magic, they missed a lot. The schools are much better on Avalon. What your grandmother was doing was the original magic, from the planet, before Terrans thought they could own it and control it. Mostly they wave their supercharged wands around. They don’t know how easy it is to block those spells using basic protection rituals and a bit of common sense. Disable the wand, take it away, and most of ‘em are helpless. I have something to share with you. Let’s go to the library.”

Eli set up the memory unit, and asked Rhys to wake up Tom and bring him down.

“This is going to be extremely unpleasant for you to watch. But you must, and that worthless son of yours is going to have to see what he did.”

  
“Should I ask where you got this?”

  
“I’m a necromancer. I can go to their Realm and communicate with those who have died. “

  
“Isn’t necromancy evil?”

  
“I don’t think so, how else can they ever get justice? Let’s take a look at things from her perspective. She was horribly abused as a child. Many people, including the Riddle family, knew about the conditions she endured and did nothing to help her. She was wrongfully withheld from education, and she really didn’t know any better. She suffered from a condition sometimes called erotomania, and she truly felt your son was her destiny. She prepared some kind of love potion, and used it on him. When she fell pregnant, she had to stop taking the potion she had been taking to make herself beautiful, and told him of what she’d done, after announcing the pregnancy. The next day he was gone, he left her nothing, and she was on the streets. Your son ran back here and pretended he didn’t know. Ah, there he is, sit down, shut up, pay attention, and realize you can’t get away with anything.”

  
She activated the device and then went with Alan to the nursery that had been set up for Tommy. Serafina and Bryan were glad to see them. “I think you’ll be pleased with his progress. He learns quickly, and we’re working on the empathy issues.”

  
“Oh, then, this should help,” Eli said, handing Bryan the crystals. “It’s the memories of his mother. Take a look for yourself. I think you should download a first person account, let him feel it. That should break him down. Then you rebuild his psyche. Tonight, we’re all eating with the family, so we need to dress.”

Tommy sat silently, watching them. He accepted that they were from the future, and were sent to change the past, and he was a big part of it. He knew that the stakes were enormous, and that any of these people would not hesitate to kill him; that he was more or less an experimental animal, and would be eliminated if the experiment went wrong.

  
Eli smiled at him. “I think it’s just too bad we couldn’t go back and convince your mother to get an abortion, Tommy. I think the best thing we could do for this realm is send you to be with your mother. It would be a lot easier than trying to turn you into something worthy of living. You’re one of those people without whom the world would be a far better place. You think you had it so hard, don’t you? Poor little orphan. You want to know what she had growing up? I think it’s time you learned about your mother. Come along. We’re going for a walk before dinner.”

  
Eli and Severus led Tommy and his caregivers to the Gaunt hovel. She pulled down a shadow so they could observe the scene without being noticed.  
“That’s your mother’s family, and that’s where she was born. That orphanage doesn’t look so bad in comparison, eh? Just wait until you meet your uncle. I’ll save that treat for another day, Tommyboy.”

  
Tommy looked somewhat ill when he saw his maternal relatives. He didn’t understand how his magical family was so degraded. That was where his mother was raised? He shuddered to think of it.

 

When the group returned to the house, it was time to change for dinner. Tommy was wearing his father’s outgrown suit, which fitted him perfectly. Serafina styled his hair the way his father had as a child. When they entered the dining room, she noticed the reaction of the senior Riddles, and the look of misery, like a trapped animal, on the boy's reluctant father.

  
“Tell your grandparents about your walk,” Eli said, as they ate the first course.

  
“We went to see the place where my mother grew up,” he said, with a guileless smile. “Not a very nice place. Even worse than where I lived.” He liked the food here. So much better than the fare at the orphanage. He liked the nice clothes, the clean sheets, the modern bathrooms.

  
Eli smiled at the Riddles. “So what did you think of the show earlier?”

  
Everyone except Tommy stopped eating.

  
“It was horrible. There was no excuse for not providing some kind of care for that poor girl,” Mary Riddle said.

  
“And what did you think of your son, in her eyes?”

  
“That I must have been a complete failure as a mother to raise a son so callow, so uncaring.”

 

Thomas looked Eli in the eye. “Saying I didn’t know isn’t enough to make up for our negligence. We knew about Merope, we could see for ourselves it was an unfit place to raise a child, but we let it happen, we didn’t intervene. We could have reported it to the authorities, but you have to understand, in a village like this, they’ve been our pariahs for so long. Even the Vicar ignored them.”

Eli shook her head. “The Ministry, the officials in charge of magic here, knew about the situation and didn’t do anything, either. The girl was ignored, she was considered “too uncouth and uneducatable. Not that education alone could have prevented this sort of tragedy; it’s sad to say that love potions and spells are quite common among wizardry.” She smirked. “No Faerie would have anything to do with a love potion or spell. “

  
“It was the undoing of Merlin,” Mary said.

  
“Of course,” Eli replied. “To bend the will of another is a misuse of magic, an ethical crime, and it always backfires and creates a lot of collateral damage. You have to make sure that your motives are correct, your intent other than self interest.”

 

“This time travel you talk about, it sounds so . . . Asimovian, something right out of speculative fiction, beyond anything Einstein has talked about,” Thomas Riddle said.

  
Alan looked at him with interest. “You know about Einstein?”

  
“Yes, I did very well in science when I was at Oxford, I wanted to go into research, but my father said it was ‘unsuitable’ for a man in my ‘position as a landed gentleman’ so I didn’t. I try to keep up and stay in touch with some of my old classmates,” he said with a sigh.

  
“I can get you some books that might help you understand,” Alan said. “I have always found theoretical physics to be a fascinating field.”

  
‘I would imagine the field has made a lot of advances, by, what is it, the 21st century?”

  
“Obviously.”

  
“Would it be wrong for you to give me some books from your time?”

  
“That might be dangerous, don’t you think?” said Eli. “Considering all that’s going on in the world, with all the fascisti running amok again.”

“Another war with Germany?”

“And Italy and Japan.”

  
“Could you do something about it, help out the right people?”

  
“We’ve got people on it right now.”

“Isn’t it cheating to come from the future?”

  
“We’re not changing the outcome, we’re just ending it early, if our plans work. Our history doesn’t have to be your future.”

  
Thomas looked thoughtful. Tom looked miserable. Tommy kept eating.

Mary was concerned about the effects of the proposed memory transfer on the boy. It was horrible to watch, but to experience it first hand? It seemed harsh, but she trusted in the Faeries to know how best to handle his disturbed mind.

  
Tommy had no idea what he was in for.

After dinner Tommy and his handlers left the dining room and returned to the nursery with Eli. Alan remained with the Riddles, mostly discussing world events, whether or not there would be a war, and the problems with the Prince of Wales and his American inamorata.

  
Alan had always liked English history, now he got to live it.

 

Eli saw how Serafina and Bryan had set up part of the nursery like a hospital room. “He’s not going to be able to eat or drink normally, for the week it will take to process him. We’ll be monitoring his vital signs and keeping track of his emotional state."

  
“Are you using memory compression?”

  
“Yes, we want him to experience her entire life, then we’ll treat the stress it causes..”

  
Bryan picked up the electrodes that were to be attached to the boy’s head.

  
“That poor woman, her life was horrific, and there are even worse cases in this realm … I don’t like it here very much. Don’t see how you put up with it for all those years.”  
“I got my stand down time in Avalon, that helped, but I don’t miss it here. It’s not even a good place to visit.”

Serafina brought Tommy to the bed. He was dressed in flannel pajamas.

  
“For the next week, you’ll be staying in bed. What we’re going to do is let you share your mother’s life. Eli collected her memories and now we’ll just transfer them directly into your brain. Much better than a movie, you’re in it, you feel everything. You will be inside your mother but you won’t have any control at all over what happens. You’ve spent your life trying to understand why you had no family, where you were from, and now you will learn the truth. “

 

Either the truth would set him free or it would kill him.  Either way, things in this timeline would be better.  


	10. Life Goes On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy is broken down, Gellert becomes a superstar wizard.

  
Alan and Eli visited the Riddles every day for the week of the memory transfer. Alan spent most of the time discussing physics and politics with Thomas, and Eli was fascinated with how Tommy’s treatment was progressing. It wasn’t easy on the boy. He became quite ill from the psychic trauma, manifesting in gastro-intestinal distress, making it impossible for him to eat. Bryan kept him fed with potions that contained sufficient nutrients to sustain the boy’s body.

The psychogenic trauma, in addition to the psionic therapy administered by Bryan, caused a change in the balance of chemical makeup of his brain, as well as a shift in brain function. Eli looked at the brain scans that were charting the progress of the treatment.

It was obvious from looking at the semi conscious boy to see how traumatizing the experience was. He shivered, shook, cried, and screamed softly as he experienced his mother’s life.

When the memory transfer was over, Tommy was physically debilitated, bedridden, showing all the signs of psychic trauma. It took him over a day to realize he was back in his own body.

The treatment was working. His personality had been broken down, now he needed to be guided and encouraged to improve himself. Mary Riddle was asked to share her grandmother’s teaching with him. The old magic, the old belief, was based on reciprocity with the great Mother Earth, a much kinder and gentler form of magic than what was taught at Hogwarts.

 

Tommy slowly regained full awareness of himself. He was a physical wreck; he had lost weight, he had felt the pain, the hunger, the cold, everything his mother had. Eli, Alan, and the healers were seated by his bed.

 

  
“You’ve been rescued, Tommy, her only rescue was death. Still think you have it so bad?” Eli said to him when he had regained full awareness.

  
The boy looked at her, with tears trickling out of his eyes. “I was saved twice, once when she birthed me in the orphanage, she could have killed herself before I was born, then when you came to me there. There was no one there for her, ever. Her life was nothing but pain … how could he abandon her?” He sobbed. “Alone, so alone . . . only the occasional kindness from strangers to sustain her . . . her own family so cruel . . .”

“So that’s how you came to be, Tommyboy,” Eli drawled.

  
“My father is … horrible,” the boy said. “He didn’t care what happened to her, or to me . . .”

  
“He was a stupid, spoiled Muggle, scared to death of a witch who charmed him. Bailing on pregnant women and children is hardly rare with your species. You’re here now. All you have to do is learn to behave, and you can take everything from him. If you even want it. You might find that magic is worth more than money. But it is nice to have both.”  
She looked down at the boy with a smile.

  
“It’s not the end of your torment, Tommy. Your mother will be visiting you, from the realm of the dead, on certain occasions. To remind you about the pain your creation caused her.”

 

Serafina smiled at him. “The point we’re trying to make is that karma happens, and if you do bad things, even unintentionally, you never get out of paying for it, for the rest of eternity. You can’t cheat the system, you can’t get out of life alive, you have to pay for everything, one way or another. Your mother didn’t know, none of you Terrans seems to know, that what a woman goes through when she’s pregnant is passed on, and it can even change the DNA itself. We think one of the main reasons why you Terrans are so horrible is because so many women are forced to gestate, and for many women even wanted pregnancies cause them too much stress because of the circumstances.”

  
“Remember,” said Bryan, “She could have aborted you, she could have killed herself before you were born. So if you value your life at all, remember what she went through for you.”

Tommy was crying. He did not stop crying for three days. He looked and acted like a dog beaten into submission. He was a pitiful mess. His personality had been shattered and the process of reintegrating him began. It would not be easy or painless.

 

He didn’t understand it wasn’t just about him. He was part of the atonement that Albus, and to a lesser extent, Gellert, had to work out to redeem themselves. They would be his mentors and captors when he went to Hogwarts. He was a longitudinal experiment, not just another student. If he could be salvaged, there might be hope for Terran magi.  
Just like how if Eli’s Muggle contact was successful, the meltdown of the economy and the ecosystem in the early 21st century might be avoided. The trick was to get people to heed the words of the prophets, not the siren song of profits.

 

 

Cordelia spun the story, of how she and Gellert had discovered the secret of the Chamber when they stumbled across some old correspondence, dating back to the earliest days of Hogwarts. The Morgan women had already established their base in the region and provided a considerable amount to the construction fund, and the letters and maps by Salazar Slytherin were found in a file that was supposed to have been thrown away.

The Daily Profit’s editors ate up the story with a spoon. They didn’t question Cordelia’s failure to provide the documents, saying they were a part of the family archives. It was known that the Morgan mansion had been the site of the construction office, and the story was more than plausible.

 

This enraged the matrons of the “best” purebred families, who hated the Morgan women’s independence and lack of interest in marriage or pedigrees and blood purity, not to mention the Morgan fortune in real estate and property, they were rich in both Muggle and Wizarding worlds, so infuriating to the social climbers of the elitists. And then that suffragette bitch had the nerve to go in and fight alongside the men, and to show such courage, so unwomanly!

It didn’t have to be mentioned that the main bone of contention for most of these harridans was that Gellert Grindelwald was Cordelia’s consort. They all wanted a piece of that fine wizard. So did many of their husbands. It just wasn’t fair. How come _she_ got all the fun?

 

The girls all got to DADA class early and sat as close to the front as they could. The boys wanted to hate him but they couldn’t. They understood why the girls were all crazy about him and they all wanted to be like him. There was an increase in the interest in riding lessons and soon riding gear was the most popular look on campus. When he expressed an interest in ballet, girls begged their mothers to send them to dance classes. He didn’t sugarcoat his lessons, he told them honestly what dangers lurked in the world outside, at the hands of the unknowing, the insane, and the just plain mean. He taught his students about discernment of spirits, how to detect threats, and how to avoid entrapment.  

 

The important thing was to stay honest, to never lie to yourself, not to give in to the ego, to always be mindful of reality, that it is never what you want it to be. He had his nose rubbed in that message. He had set himself up, even built his own prison.  Eli was right.  Every tyrant ends up with his empire in a shambles, only Rome lasted because it was more of a group effort.  And even that fell when they went monotheistic and got rid of the witches and gods.  His own future was a case in point.  What was the point in forcing others to follow you?  It was like sex, let them come to you, or it's just not worth it.  

  
He taught his students that there isn’t much difference between dark and light when it came to magic, since you’d be judged on the outcome, which could not be predicted, thus, the ends never justify the means. The intent was what mattered, and only the person casting the spell could know that. The problem was that so many wizards were even worse than Muggles when it came to denying reality and preferring their own delusions. Intellectual dishonesty was the undoing of most of the so-called Dark Wizards.

Do what you will, and clean up your own mess.  The best way is to not make a mess.  

 

 

Alan and Eli collected Muggle and Wizarding news sources, brought them back to their own time to compare with the archival records, to see how the time lines were diverging. It started with little things, hardly noticeable. Odd things were happening in the United States, for example, certain politicians suddenly resigned “for reasons of health,” the head of the FBI was caught in a scandal involving a college lacrosse team, and a “Bill” Donovan was found dead in a most embarrassing situation. The psychohistorians were pleased with the way the Muggle was getting things done.

Eli and Alan set up a base of operations on the Isle of Man, near the Maughold Point gateway for the Muggle research department, before returning to the Riddle residence to check on Tommy’s progress.

 

Mary Riddle had become his surrogate mother. When Tommy woke up, he had regressed to a near infantile state, helpless, trembling, sobbing and ill. She bathed him, hand fed him, sung him lullabies, tucked him in and slept in a cot next to his bed to sooth him when he woke up with dreams of his mother’s life. It was a part of the treatment. The boy slowly returned to his normal behavior after a month had passed. He had changed considerably. His face had softened, his eyes had lost the ‘ancient’ look, and his smile was genuine, not a mask

Bryan and Serafina were proud of their work. There was still a lot of work to be done, and his education needed to be improved. That appeared to be the key to winning the boy, he adored learning, he craved knowledge and was an eager student. He was learning both worlds.

Thomas visited the boy once a day. He was teaching Tommy about science. He invited an old school mate, now at Oxford, lecturing, to stay over holiday breaks and introduced him to Tommy. He was impressed with the boy’s understanding of theoretical physics.

  
Tommy loved physics and mathematics. They kept his mind busy. It was a part of his therapy. He had to learn to love both Wizards and Muggles and realize that both are of equal value, all one species, after all.

 

Mary’s dedication to the boy had a positive effect. He soon came to love her, he was starved for love and attention, and since she was at his side as his personality reintegrated and he was brought back to fully functional, she was the mother he had never known. She taught him about music, to appreciate the arts. She taught him how to ride. He had a natural ability with horses, he could understand them and treated them like treasured pets. All of the animals he encountered liked him. He cried when one of them was injured or died; the brain rewiring was working. This was demonstrated when his grandfather took him on a tour of his old college, and they went to the biology department. Tommy became physically ill when he was exposed to the animals in cages being experimented on. When one of the scientists told the boy that animals “don’t feel pain,” Tommy laughed in his face, called him a sadistic old man torturing animals, and ran out of the building.

He preferred math, physics, and his new interest, astronomy. He found chemistry to be intriguing, but too smelly and messy. He was quite fastidious, always kept himself neat and hated being dirty. He quickly developed a taste for fine clothes and picked up on the finer points of etiquette effortlessly.

 

He was the child Mary always wanted. She knew he’d been saved by these strange people who had invaded her life, and so had she. He was not the cursed child who would  murder his family anymore. That dismal fate had been avoided.


	11. Chapter 11

 Albus thought he could never forgive Gellert for the fight that killed Ariana. Eli made him face the truth about what happened, and he was beginning to own his contribution to the disaster, to stop projecting all the blame on the man who got away, out of thwarted lust.

The killing of the basilisk made him change his mind in an instant. He would never forget a single moment. The battle was short, but fierce, and the image of Gellert, laughing at the beast as he raised his sword, was one of the peak experiences of his life. How could he not love this brave, golden knight? Yes, he could be cruel and thoughtless, but that was his Shadow Side, and could be compensated for.

Which is just what Cordelia was doing for him, Albus realized.

He had always been jealous of their relationship, which was part of the reason he was so thrilled to have been chosen as Gwydion’s father. It didn’t matter to him that it was a question of bloodlines, that Albus’s paternal line was descended from Merlin. He enjoyed having sex with Cordelia that Beltane, he closed his eyes and thought about Gellert, and what he had done with her.

 

Gellert didn’t need him or want him. That hurt the worst. Even worse was how distant his son was to him. They looked like father and son, although Gwydion was much better looking, he’d inherited his mother’s shining gold curls and his features were more aquiline. When the boy began his education at Hogwarts, Albus had grown a beard, in an attempt to play down the resemblance.

Gwydion knew who his father was, but did not reveal the relationship to anyone, refusing to either confirm nor deny any rumors about his paternity.

Albus realized he was jealous of the boy, for his looks, for his family’s wealth, at how ‘easy’ Gwydion had it, compared to his disordered, dishonored family, and that led him to be cold to his son.

Gellert was more of a male role model to the boy than he was. Which was another thing about Gellert that vexed Albus. He was glad when Gellert built his stronghold and spent less time at the Farm. Cordelia didn’t much care for the castle; it was in the middle of nowhere and there was little to do. So Gellert came to her when he could, which was more often than Albus liked.

 

Gellert had looked like a god, with his sword raised in triumph, the basilisk’s blood raining on him. How could Albus hate him? He was the most beautiful wizard, the bravest knight, Albus wanted to worship him. He knew he’d blown any chance at love, with both Gellert and Gwydion.

They all loved Cordelia, the Valkyrie who rode the basilisk with battleaxe in hand. Albus resented her because he couldn’t be sexually attracted to her. He’d spent his youth fighting himself, angry with everyone for being normal, or for accepting themselves as outliers and laughing at the conformists.

He was ashamed of his dreams, mostly of the three of them rolling around in all possible combination and variations, dreams where he was a hermaphrodite, fucking and being fucked at the same time. When the dreams got to be too much, he’d sneak off to Nocturne Alley, that street that was right next to its homonymic twin, Knockturn Alley, but was so much more fun.

It was where witches and wizards who were a lot more colorful, more adventurous, where the nightlife was not dangerous but flamboyant and spotlit. There were theaters, music halls, and of course, The Two Wizards Pub. Albus loved the back room. He dressed up, often in drag, usually in some sort of disguise, for the more intimate dancing found there.

It was the sort of place where no matter how much you flamed, you couldn’t stand out in the crowd, everyone was totally on their game, dressed up and flying their colors. After a weekend there, the dreams would go away. For a while.

 

Albus read all the reports on Tommy Riddle Eli brought back with her from the Riddle home. She thought that calling him Tommy would be another reminder that he was a child, he was not to assume he was able to know better than everyone else. He looked at the colored brain scans, before and after, which showed how the rewiring had connected the brain to allow him to feel empathy and sympathy, to feel love and to care for other creatures.

The treatment had been a success.

He did not agree, at first, with the plan to educate Tommy in both Muggle and Wizarding schools. Serafina suggested he should attend Hogwarts, while being tutored at home, then after Hogwarts, Cambridge, or maybe UC Berkeley, or wherever Albert Einstein was teaching. The boy was clearly a prodigy, and such a gift should not be wasted. He realized she was correct, that by living with Muggles would allow him to see them as true equals, which was considered to be radical politics in the Ministry.

 

Serafina and Bryan were ready to leave and go back to Avalon, once his brain function had stabilized after four months of treatment. They would visit, at least once a week, and turned him over to a Mary and a staff of tutors, all university students. The tutors were amazed at the boy. When asked how he came by his knowledge, he explained that he read every book he could find, and once found a stash of mathematics and physics texts. The sisters in charge of the orphanage encouraged him to stay by himself and read, and often gave him books they came across. When he was reading he didn’t cause trouble; he was actually happy as he learned.

 

Thomas Riddle came up with a cover story to explain the boy’s presence. He and his wife were both fond of “hard bitten” American crime novels, and “accidently” let the cook, who lived in the village and had a very large mouth, overhear them discuss the “American Private Eye” who had taken an interest in the child and traced his family. Within three days the entire village had some variation of the story.

Most of them were of the belief that young Tom had left Merope, but some insisted she left him. It really didn’t matter. She became, as Thomas had anticipated, a tragic heroine, like a low rent Ophelia. Tom had made himself a pariah and Tommy would be the new star of the family. Everyone in the Village was impressed by how the Riddles took in the waif, said to look just like his father.

Now that the Village was talking about the boy, he had to be presented. One afternoon Mary drove to the haberdasher who outfitted her husband and had Tommy measured for riding clothes, as well as suits and play wear. They went to a tea room she liked, which was almost empty. “Watch what happens, Tommy,” she whispered. “When word gets out you’re here this place will fill up immediately. They all want a good look at you. They will all think you’re absolutely adorable, take advantage, dear.”

Mary was correct, and by the time their tea and sandwiches arrived, the tea room began to fill up with ladies, who all came to their table to greet Mary and get a close look at Tommy.

“Will he be attending the Village school soon?” one of the women asked.

“No, Thomas hired some tutors, he’ll be attending a school in Scotland when he’s 11. The orphanage did have a decent teacher, they did the best they could.”

 

Tommy smiled at them all. He could feel their good will towards him, the lost boy, returned to the family estate, it was better than any of their novels. The events preceding his birth was the source of years of gossip among them, now they had him to talk about. Plucked from a Dickensian London orphanage, to a manor home and a fortune.

It was a nice story, if you didn’t think too much about the cost to Merope.


	12. Samhain1935

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merope returns to Little Hangleton

  
Alan decided that this Samhain they needed to bring Merope to Avalon at the beginning of the three day festival, to get her some therapy with Seraphina and Bryan. Eli was frustrated at her continued depressed mood; Eli was a soldier and always wanted to leap into action, which made Merope’s lethargy quite an annoyance. She wanted to get Tommy settled and things set in motion so she could go back to her own timeline and get some work done on the next phase.

  
“We’ll both be with her every step of the way, besides, she’ll be as beautiful as she could have been in a better lifetime, and I do want to see the look on Tom Riddle’s face when he sees her.” Alan was looking forward to making her over, dressing her suitably, then presenting her to Tommy.

 

The way the veil worked was actually quite simple. When you died, your body was eventually dissolved back into the elements that created your physical body. Only the spirit went to the other side of the veil, unless you were a trained necromancer and had a Hekate’s Amulet. To cross back over, the spirit picked up the same amount of elements and a body was formed. It looked like the Muggle television show, Star Trek ,transporter beam, the spirit sparkled as the elements were incorporated. The body was reformed based on the DNA of the spirit, which was the soul’s last incarnation, the mark on the facet when the soul returns to its oversoul and is reincarnated, or moved up a level.

The body that was formed was the optimal expression of the gene, with no deformities or handicaps that were an inevitable part of Terran reproduction. In Merope’s case, the misery of her mother, plus the horrific nature of the dwelling, steeped in pain, filth, and depravity, unloved, a life devoid of all that is worth living for. Thus, she did not develop properly. Alan would carefully dress her, and they would all help her with the mother and son reunion.

 

Albus, Gellert, and Galatea would come with them to the Riddle manse on Samhain. Gellert was quite eager to see the boy who grew up to murder him. He’d read the reports the Faeries wrote on the brain reconfiguration, it appeared to be a success. The group would all be riding Faerie horses, using the portkey to get from the Farm to Little Hangleton, and then to the house. That should make a suitable impression. Gellert would be riding next to Cordelia, of course. Albus was never much of a rider and the mare he rode had no respect for him at all. He let her do as she would and they tolerated each other.

 

The village had rallied to Tommy’s cause and they bullied the vicar to take action against the Gaunts, forcing them into protective custody, their dwelling replaced with something a bit less horrid. Some young alienists were hired to examine and treat the Gaunts. Bryan gave them some of the potions used to calm the psychotic, which were very helpful. Within six months they were released to a new cottage, with modern plumbing, electricity (which they never used, of course, since what magic they knew didn’t do well in the presence of electric power of any sort), the standing water drained, the spring cleaned out and flowing clean and free. The change in the drinking water was therapeutic, since Bryan had planted a special herb garden around the spring that helped medicate the water.

Tommy’s maternal relatives were cleaned up enough to be presentable as local color, the village eccentrics, not feared and loathed.

 

Alan was interested in watching how the veil worked. The Temple of Hekate was the most popular of all the gateways back to the land of the living, because they were set up for it. The remains of the dead were reduced, by the use of a special fire, which broke the body into elements which were collected at the gateways. Thus, the returning spirits could manifest easily and quickly.

He didn’t like seeing her go through the veil, even though he knew that she was Chosen by Hekate, and her seal gave her free passage to come and go as she pleased. The hard thing was getting used to being in nonlinear time, and she had to program a special amulet to remind her when to return. As soon as the veil began to thin at the beginning of the three day festival, Eli went to fetch Merope and escort her through the Veil.

  
He’d asked Eli and the Elders about the fate of Sirius Black, who was forced while alive through the Veil. He discovered that Black could be recalled alive if the right rituals were done, but he had no intention of learning how to do that, nor would he tell anyone else. Dead or alive, in this realm, or any other, he did not like Sirius Black. Let him figure it out for himself. Eli agreed with him.

 

Merope followed Eli through the Veil. She took a deep breath. She had a body again. She looked down. Her skin was perfect. No scars, no blemishes. She touched her face. It felt different, but the same. Eli and Alan each took an arm and walked her to the Octagon, and took her to the penthouse dressing room. Eli and Seraphina dressed her in a Druid’s white gown, plaited her hair with chrysanthemums in a crown atop her head. They led her to a full length mirror.

Merope did not believe her eyes. She was beautiful. Her skin was perfect, her hair shone, she looked as she had when she used the beauty potion she had concocted, with her innate skills and the help of some books she had found in the attic. This was the Merope who got Tom Riddle to run away with her, and without any potions or spells.

 

Merope was brought to the hospital and put in a room, where she was shown the fate of her son before intervention. “You can see why we had to return in time to change him,” Alan said. “It’s not all your fault. As you saw, his teachers failed him miserably. They should have known better.”

  
Merope stared at him. “My son murdered you. Or tried to, but you were saved and given another chance . .. and you are here to try and alleviate the suffering. He murdered so many . . . have you told him what he became?”

  
“No,” Alan said. “Because he won’t be able to do those things, not have the therapy the Faeries gave him. He lived your life, he knows what you endured, he has forgiven you. You have to forgive yourself now.” He smiled to himself, knowing how hard that was to do.

 

The next morning before dawn they went to the gateway and to the Farm. They met with Cordelia, Gellert, Galatea and Albus, where they mounted up and transported to the Little Hangleton graveyard. “For dramatic effect” Eli saids Merope was mounted on a black mare who was as gentle as a Faerie horse could be, and carried the nervous woman easily. They galloped from the graveyard to the Riddle property, where the gates were opened for them as they approached. As the sun rose, they arrived at the front door. Eli and Gellert took the horses to the stables, and rejoined the others in the front hall. Each member of the party carried their saddlebags to the rooms they would be using.

  
All three generations of Riddle men went to the stables to admire the horses. Their own horses didn’t much care for the visitors, but the Riddles were in complete awe of them.

Mary Riddle was astounded to see how beautiful Merope was. Alan explained how this was, how she was what she could have been, should have been. Mary took Merope to her boudoir, where they simply stared at each other for some time before either could speak.

  
Mary broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”

  
“You didn’t do anything to me,” Merope replied.

  
“But I didn’t do anything for you, and I could have. I didn’t even try.”

“No one did.”

  
“We did clean up the place, put your wretched brother and father into the care of the healers, tore down that horrid shack and put up something more suitable for human habitation. Bryan mixed up some medicines for them. You don’t have to see them if you don’t want to. You’re here for Tommy.” She reached over and took Merope’s hand. “I will try and love him for you, my dear. It doesn’t make up for how horribly I raised my son. I will never be able to forgive him for what he did to you.”

Merope smiled. “Eli told me that’s because he’s what they call a sociopath, there’s something amiss with how their brains are wired, and he fooled everyone, didn’t he? Except a few.”

  
Mary nodded. He was so good looking, had such charm, he got away with more than he should have. I should have been stricter, but my husband’s family insisted we leave his care to the staff. He always managed to get them to do what he wanted with a smile. You know, I think that the only beings he ever truly loved was his horses. He was such a wonderful rider, and took care of them himself.”

 

The men eventually returned to the house, cleaned up and got dressed. Tommy was extremely nervous. His grandmother had taught him about Samhain and how the dead could return, if they wished. Often they preferred to stay where they were, where there is no time, to work out their issues, explore other dimensions of being, revisit past lives and experiences, and learn from all sources of knowledge.

  
Death was nothing to fear, after all, and it was inevitable, otherwise, life had no real meaning.

Tommy Riddle’s main problem was his fear of death. That’s what got him going in the wrong direction, and no one in his life tried to redirect him. The path he chose never ends well for anyone, as psychohistory demonstrates.

 

Merope was dressed in a black velvet robe draped over purple crepe, in the mode of the day. Her hair was dressed up over a tiara of the moon and stars, in moonstone and diamonds. The women all left together, going as a group to the garden door to watch the sun set.

Tom almost fainted as he looked at her. She was even more beautiful than she had been when he had been under the influence of her potions. Tommy knew that this was what she would have been, had she been spared the unending misery of her existence, from conception to death. His knees shook uncontrollably, as he forced himself to walk up to her, with tears in his eyes, as they rushed to embrace each other.

 

Thomas turned to Mary and whispered, “I can’t believe that’s the same woman, the same bedraggled wench …” as he wiped a tear away. “She gave up her life for her son, I wish we had known . ..but I know why she wouldn’t trust us, after all the abuse and neglect . . .”

  
Mary nodded. “We’ve been given a chance to change things, from this day forward. From what I’ve learned, we can learn from mistakes we needn’t make, like appeasing those dreadful Germans.”

Tommy wanted to know what death was like. “It’s nothing to be afraid of,” Merope said. “There is no time there, no physical body, and as Eli has shown me, it’s what you make of it. You’re my mission, Tommy. I have to help guide you, .both of us need to learn how to love and be loved.”

 

Gellert, Alan, and Albus all found it fascinating to see the boy who murdered them before he turned bad. Gellert looked at the future as a mentor with the boy to be a challenge, like training a particularly high spirited horse. He would continue his career as an educator long enough to see Tommy through his studies. He was hoping to spend some time at the College of Druids, and had discussed this with Seraphina and Bryan at length. He wanted to learn how the brain worked, how the magic originated within the mind and how it manifested. Why not use the scientific method to improve magic? The Faeries were so advanced, after all. Mugglephobia caused a great deal of stupidity, he began to realize.

  
He was falling in love with Alan, that much was clear. What an amazing man he was. Gellert knew there was no chance, there was only Eli for him, and so it was for her. They would go back to their timeline, and he wondered if they would be reborn in this new realm that was being created. The longer he spent with Cordelia and teaching, the more he realized what a loser’s game he’d been playing before being taken away by these time traveling Faeries. He could do more continuing to research and develop new methodologies, new spellcasting techniques, now that the Fey had re-established contact with the Morgan women. Gellert had the keen instincts of the born opportunist, and he realized that the real power, the real future of magic was with the Fey.


End file.
